A Dakota with a 5.2, realistically, you're looking at around 12 and 17 with near-stock highway (not A/T or off-road) tires.

I was surprised when my Dakota actually achieved those ratings... that is, before I threw on slightly bigger A/T tires. Than I was looking at 11 and 15.

A Dakota doesn't weigh much less than our Rams.

 

If that's all yourexpecting to gain then go for it.
I thought you were looking for asubstantial fuel economy improvement.

 

Man those Tacomas are fuel efficient. My buddies mom is the TRD 4x4 and the SOB gets like 17 mpg city and 22 or so highway. That's with all the bells and whistles, 4 door cab. Wasn't lifted or anything, but has some get up and go. I'm assuming without all the extras, a stock 2wd would be well over 20 mpg.

I've considered getting a 1996-1998 Tacoma reg. cab 4x4, but they're kinda hard to find at a reasonable price (upwards of 6-7k for what I've seen and that's with 100,000+ miles). One of those with a 5 speed would be great.

 

Your going to get the same mileage with that 3.9 as you would if that dak had a 5.2.......put any kind of gear or haul something then the 5.2 is going to return better mileage. My dak returned 17 CONSISTANTLY 4x4 oversized wide tires and a 318 under the hood.

 

If I got a Dakota I'd for sure get a V8. I like them but i'd want atleast the 4.7L if I got one.

I agree with others an import is probably the way to go if you want gas milage. We can get 34mpg out of our 06 Accord V6 6speed manual Sedan. It's a ton faster than my truck and I don't just mean a little. It's pretty quick for waht it is and rides nicely. If you drive it hard you get down into the 20's but still pretty good compared to the 14 you might get in that truck. If you drive it normally you can get in the 30's.

 

Yea, mileage on the V8 vs. V6 Dakotas is pretty much the same.
Mid-teens city, high teens highway. Just go look at the second gen Dakota forum.
My 1st Gen V6 gets 12-13 city, and 16-17 highway @ 75MPH.

Like others have said, if your looking for just a small increase (which, I really won't see why... the money you would spend on the truck, combined with the extra maintenance [I'm sure you have experiance with this with your Ram] and insurance would pay for the gas price differance in your Ram I'm sure) and want a second truck, than go for it. But if you want more than a... 2-3MPG improvement, either get a car or, if you need a truck, a foreign truck. But I'm not recommending you get a vehicle besides a Chrysler .

 

im gonna have to agree with these guys, a buddy in high school had a 98 dakota with the 3.9 and he didnt get much better gas mileage than i did with my 5.9. 12 city, 15-16 highway. he now has the new dakota with the 4.7 and gets at least 15 all the time, and that thing hauls a$$. but your not looking for something that new. id still say that the dakota there is a great deal, and if thats what your looking for, you probably wont find a better deal!