1987 dakota questions

MOBodyman said
These aren't real powerful with the carb but his was really reliable. You must keep the choke working properly or they will flood and kill the spark plugs.

Trust me, the 3.9's with FI weren't anything to write home about in the power dept. either. That having been said, the '88 I had was a solid truck. Decent gas mileage too (low 20s). Mine had the 5 speed. The OP doesn't say where he's from, if it's from rust country check for general frame rot and where the front suspension mounts to the frame.

rumblefish360 said
No issues with the trans or the transfer case. Though you need to be stopped and pointing straight to engauge or disengage the unit. You can break it otherwise. There's a sliding colume (I think it's called) that can break on the axle. If I have the terms right.

You need to be stopped (and in neutral if automatic) to go in/out of 4-Lo, but you can shift from 2WD to 4-Hi on the fly (ISTR they recommend below 45 mph). Never had any trouble with transfer case on mine, though I did lose 4th gear synchros along the way. Mine had over 200k when I got rid of it, guy I sold it to drove it for another 3-4 years.