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my vote, start with a 5.2 5-spd truck, 97 through 99 would be good years to look for.

that's what my truck started as, reg cab, 5.2, 2wd, 5-spd. with SCT tune, 220/230 cam, 2bbl M1, and some cheap edelbrock mid-length headers, the truck was running mid 14s at 95 mph and with a Hotchkis suspension it would surprise a lot of people in the corners. too bad hotchkis won't make the parts anymore and you have to shop for them used on the dakota forums, When we approached Hotchkis and asked 'how many sets do we need to sell to get you to do another run of your springs/shocks for Dakotas?' their response was "we aren't going to do another run"


but starting with a 5.2 truck, a 5.9 swap is a drop in deal, and as long as you don't use sticky tires, the NV3500 will last awhile behind it, and you can save up $4500 or so to do a Viper T56 swap:

http://www.dakotart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27998


Once you have the viper T56, you're free to build up whatever motor you want

408 stroker, throw spray, boost, big heads/cam at it, no worries. you won't break the T56 till north of 800hp/torque, and the stock 9.25" axle has proven to be stout enough to live behind 600+ hp builds on trucks running deep into the 10s.

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