wanting some input on a v8 swap on my dakota.......long time owner new member, my truck has been a very nice ride for the last 3 years, but constant abuse in the mud has finaly caught up with it.............the truck is a 1997 model dakota 4x4 sport extended cab with the 3.9 6 banger backed by an auto trans which im not exactly sure is.........the low down is that it is a truck slightly jacked up ridin on 33 12.50s and is slow as heck and gets bad gas milage........i know what your sayin "lose the big tires and it will solve your problems" i will lose the truck before i ride on stock size tires again............

To make a long story short.........BIG TIRES=SLOW TRUCK=HIGH RPMS=GAY MOTOR, solution i can come up with is a 5.2 swap, my best guess is to go to a junk yard and get a 5.2 out of a 97ish truck and a wiring harness and ecm for a 97 dodge dakota, from what i hear everything else is the same, just drop it in and go, right? if i have missed any key aspects plz let me know as i will be doing this swap very soon

 

i did use the search funtion aswell..........but really the only ifon i could come up with is swap from 5.2to5.9

 

you're pretty much right on. It will bolt up to the transmission and as long as you're not abusing it all the time it should hold up fine along with the rear end. Let us know how it works out.

 

Actually, it's funny I was just pondering the same idea for my truck yesterday also. Only, I have a manual tranny. But, I figure if it's a factory option, it should be possible. My truck isonly runningstock size 31x10.50s, and I was thinking that the extra power would help my mpg, as we have alot of hills where I'm at. I had originally said that I would like to just use some bolt-ons to increase the efficiency, and therefore mpg, in my 3.9. But, now I wonder if I could just get a 5.2 engine with about half the miles on it that my 3.9 has (which is over 197,000), and have about the same amount of money in it as a bunch of bolt-ons for about the same mpg increase. What do you guys think?

 

Well, the swap should be simple, But you can do a 5.9 too, easily, which would give you more power but it might just tear it apart. The rear end shouldn't be too bad, i think we have 8.25 in the 1997 4x4, 3.9, which is pretty strong. I was thinking of doing the 5.9 swap, but for my worth, i might as well buy a new truck as I would do that shortly after the upgrade...

 

ive read that you can use the 3.9 harness.....you just have to add the other 2 injector wires into the ecm plug, has anyone ever done this? if so please elaborate, also can i use a 92-up magnum engine? 97ish parts for a dakota are hard to come by down here

 

Exactly You can do that. Are you doing the 5.2 or 5.9? I think either way it's the same apparently you need the same year pcm? Not sure about this though. Not sure why it would matter