Hello, first post whoopee. Just the other day I came across a couple of videos on YouTube of people who swapped 12 valves into their Dakotas. Very curious as too how these people done them and what's your guy's opinions on it! I heard that the frames on these Dakotas are just as strong as the half ton ram frames which has got me thinking, my family has a couple of Cummins parts trucks with blown trannies (go figure who would have thought) that they would be willing to let me use for a swap like this. Very interested to hear what your guy's opinions are on these conversions as my dream truck is a a done up dakota and my most favorite motor is a Cummins. I know its a very goofball you will never get it done its stupid kinda idea, but a dream is a dream and id love to give it a shot at least!

 

I notice those are all solid axle front suspension conversions as well. (3/4 ton axles as well.....) So, it's a LOT more than just an engine swap.

That said, the cummins seems to fit in the engine bay pretty well, my major concern was there would be very limited space for an engine that long, yet, I see at least on of 'em still has the mechanical fan as well. Very cool. Looks like the first one has a passenger-side drop from the front driveshaft, other two are drivers side..... Some more details on driveline changes would be interesting to see.

But, if you have whole trucks as parts donors....... and you have the skills/facilities to do the swap, I say GO FOR IT!!! Of course, we expect you to document the build, with pics, and post it up here.