Look at the reservoir that the Dakota had and compare the two. I have 96 ram so i think they are about the same cooling wise. My reservoir i believe will normally hold about a half a gallon of coolant and the other half is for expansion. That tank you have is not anywhere close to it so i can see why it's a problem. Again i didn't measure how much it holds so i am guesstimating. But i would look for a reservoir somewhere similar in size. That tank doesn't have enough room. Here is what a 96 Dakota has according to google.