i have a problem with my heat in my dakota, i'm not quite sure what my thermostat temp is but it takes for ever for some decent heat to get into the cab, i even have a piece of cardboard in front of my radiator and that still doesn't help much, my question for you guys is what is the highest/safest temp thermostat i can run in my 3.9 v6, also is there anything else i should look at that may be cause the no heat issue?

BTW, the engine itself warms up just fine, just takes a little bit and its runs in the 160-180 degree range.

 

did you fulsh the heater core

 

take off the clutch fan and put on an efan. i get heat within 1 mile of driving.