I need a truck for work. I drive 50ish miles each way So reliability and MPG. so the question 3.9 or 4.7? I know towing would be better on the 4.7 which I would do every so often small boat/trailer about 2500lb. So what reliability and gas milage you guys getting on your 3.9's and 4.7's? I am looking at a 2000 3.9 auto and a 02 4.7 auto both reg cab

Thanks


Coker

I drive a 92 Dakota ext cab with a 5.2 V8 the mpg is around 20 or so the 3.9 and the 4.7 should be a little better gas milage.and so far ive put over 20,000 miles on the truck and all ive needed to do is replace the front tires change oil every 3-4 thousand miles and and replace the battery, the rest was upgrades and things i wanted more then needed for the truck. Most of the Dakotas are real dependable. If you are looking at getting a dakota be sure to check the heater and the transmission if it is an automatic those are the worst two items on these trucks. Hope this helps a little. M

4.7>3.9

i get on average 15 mpg with just over 20k on the odometer. i've read posts by 4.7 owners getting this just for city driving. reliability on these engines is very comparable, so go for the two extra cylinders. you'll get displacement envy with a v6--i'm coping with it now

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allan
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2090545/1

I have a 2000 ext cab 3.9 IF and i do mean IF I keep my foot out of it i can get 17 in the city and prob alot better on the highway.

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2000 DAK airaid intake, poweraid TB spacer, with cat back exhaust, with JBA headers. Want and need are 2 different things. Unfortunately I want more than I need.

This is true. My cousin has a 3.9, I have a 4.7, same if not a little better gas mileage on the 4.7

I have a 2000 4x4, 4.7L and I check the MPG all the time I noticed I get and average of 16.8 in town and around 17 or 18 on the interstate. I recently upgraded from a 1998 ford ranger with the 3.0L and I get better MPG with the V8. I love the extra power and better MPG.

I just finished renting a 2WD 4.7L 2005 Dakota SLT for a week. Average city/highway mileage was 19.57. No dogging. No tailwind. Just average driving over a variety of road surfaces-interstate, blacktop, gravel, dirt roads.

Derogatory remarks are unnecessary. I was also very surprised at this figure. One thing I noticed was the truck seemed to be geared high. At 65 mph the tachometer read slightly under 2000 RPM. That may account for the great mileage.

My milage sucks.I have a 2000 4x4 quad cab Dakota with a 4.7 engine and 392 gears..I cant break 14 mpg on the freeway and about 12mpg combined.

But thats the price you pay for having them towing gears.

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2000 Dakota Quad Cab
V-8
Loaded

I have an 03 quad cab w/ 4.7 and my buddy has an 01 club with a 3.9 and i get probably around 17 highway and he has told me he gets worse. I figure cause the dakotas a pretty decent size truck and the 3.9 seems a lil week too me especially at highway speeds so anytime u wanna pick up speed the truck has to downshift instead of just using torque like the 4.7.

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Silver 03 Quad Cab 4.7

4.7 in a 00 Quad Cab. Get around 16 on the average combine of city/hway. If it's all highway I get over 20.