I'm in the market for a 4wd Gen 2 Dakota. Must be extended cab or quad cab. I want 80k or less on the clock. With those miles, it will probably be in the 01 to 04 year range. Prefer a V8, but wouldn't rule out a V6.

Best engine? Any to stay away from? What else should I look out for on these trucks?

I have almost 250K on my 97.
The ball joints are shot from the factory so figure on replacing them if not done already.

Gen 2 or gen 3? there's no quad cab Gen 2s, but gen 3 (97-04 Dakota) does have quads available starting in 2000 I believe? maybe '01 was the first year.

They are HEAVY trucks. my 98 is a striped out regular cab. left the factory with no AC, cruise control, manual windows, locks, seats, transmission, and is 2wd. only option really was the 5.2L v8. it weighs 3900 lbs.

my 04 quad cab, 2wd V8 auto with power windows, locks, mirrors, cruise, AC, etc. weighs 4500 empty

Ball joints in the 4wd models had issues, but should be fixed under the recall. Check the ball joints, if they are riveted to the control arm, they are original. If they are held in with nuts/bolts, they are replacements. They suck down the gas. my 2wd 5.2 truck would do 17 MPG, but that was with a manual trans. my 04 quad cab 4.7L truck gets about 16 on the highway, and 15 overall.

lots of aftermarket support though. cosmetic mods, performance mods, etc.

but gen 3 (97-04 Dakota)
Tom, I thought the 97-04 were the Gen 2?

Well color me silly, for the last 10 years I've thought of my 97 as the 1st year of the gen 2.

Yea, the line between Gen 1 and 2 is kind of blurry since the body style didn't change much if at all, likewise on the line between gen 4/5. but there is clearly a change between 96-97 and 04-05.

In the Dakota RT Club (www.drtc.com) we all refer to the 97-04 trucks as "Gen 3"

gen 1 and 2 are different. The grills and head lamp surrounds are different. No V8 in Gen 1,iirc. Just the 4 and V6.. Body lines are different so sheet metal doesn't interchange, etc..Gen 2's had 4cyl,V6's and V8's. I had a '94 extra cab {not quad} 4x4 auto shortbed, I had the "BlakDak" '94 regular cab,shortbed Sport with the 440 and I've had a 93 and 95 "parts" trucks.. I like the Gen 2's better..

Gen 2s are lighter.

but I like sexy and curves. I like the Gen 3 Dakota's the best. Same with the Vipers. I like the Gen 2's with the GTS...sexy, curvy.

Guess the only 1st gen v-8 was the 90 shelby I suppose. I dig the fact that the 87-96 dakota could share the taillights with 81-93 ram and ramchargers.

Well, not sure what Gen to call it, but what I want is a 97-04. I'm going to look at one this weekend with the 4.7 V8. Is that generally a good motor?Thanks for all the input guys.

I'd take a 5.2 over a 4.7 engine. Some folks have good luck with the 4.7's, some of people have trouble with them.

I had a 2000 Dakota, 4WD, 4.7L, 5-speed manual extended cab. Bought it with 125k on the clock. Put a new exhaust on it immediately with 4 new O2 sensors.

I beat that truck mercilessly. Offroaded quite a bit in it. Had the rearend rebuilt once. Power locks died but windows still worked. Stock speakers all blew out of it. Replaced the front wheel bearings multiple times (definitely didn't torque them right once or twice - my fault). The cam position sensor died, left me stranded, cheap easy fix. I retired it to my uncle's farm, not sure of the mileage. Both front fenders and the hood started rotting. Lower doors are gone. Bed, rear bumper rotting pretty bad. The rear spring shackle broke, sent the spring into the bed. They threw new tires on it, couple new parts at it and it's still going strong

I'll see if I can dig up a picture

I have a Gen 3 (97), with 3.9 and 5 speed. Almost logged 250,000 on it, been a very good and virtually trouble-free truck, just maintenance items so far. (water/fuelpumps/exh.repairs).

Only issue is on Gen 3's the evap's are troublesome.

from what i have read, it seems the 4.7s had some qc issues. If you find a good one theyre great, and the bad ones, well you get the picture. I have a 3.9l auto in my 97 2wd reg cab short box, its definetly not fast but it runs awesome and i get 19-21 mpg with it. All I did was build a cold air intake for it, pulled the rubber flap off from behind the head light to allow more fresh air in, 2.25" exhaust with no cat and a flowmaster. Its loud and doesnt sound very good above 3k lol but the combo gets me pretty damn good mileage! haha good luck on your search!

IIRC 2003 was the last production year of the 5.2l