I bought a 2000 Dakota about 10 months ago and I love it. I was recently reading the mantenance schedule in the back of the owner's manual and on the schedule A it recomends to change the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles on the 4.7 liter. I just hit the 90,000 miles marker, in addition to transmission fluid other minor things require maintence. I was wondering about that. Dosen't that seem too frequent? I thought maybe that would be the case if you were towing or hauling heavy stuff frequently. However it recomends to change the transmission fluid every 12,000 miles if your are going by schedule B, which is for frequent towing and such. The use of my truck falls under schedule A. Does anyone else out there follow this schedule? What troubles might I have if I don't follow it.

 

I would just follow A, and you dont really need to change parts exactly when it says. I dont know anyone who follows B. Just make sure you change ur oil every 3000 with new filter, change spark plugs every 15,000, and just the basics and u should be ok. If u dont do maintinece urself just have a shop do a tune-up once a year

 

Most people probably don't follow this service intervail. And to tell you the truth, the transmission will probably work perfectly fine.
However, it is a good idea to follow this service intervail. That way you know there is a clean filter in there, and, getting it serviced (either by you, or, when a shop services it, ask them to see the magnet that's in the pan) you can kinda tell the "condition" of the transmission.
Just remember: do not use inferior transmission fluid (ie. Dexron or Mercon). Either use specific ATF+4 (I think that is the newest ATF spec) or sythetic that either conforms to ATF+4 or is recommended by the manufacturer for Chrysler transmissions (such as is the case with Mobil tranny fluid).
Also, if servicing it yourself, remember that tranny fluid expands when heated, so, when doing the initial fill, take that into account.