going with a dakota transmission

FWIW
I owned an '88 Dakota with the V6, 5 spd OD.
I really liked the truck, great size, plenty of power. But, the tranny tanked on me. I did not abuse it, but it tanked at about 150,000 mi. IIRC. It was very difficult at the time (1999) to find a replacement tranny, as I found out it was the weak link in the truck.
C