I was a 3.0 hater untill i owned one. They are slow get crappy mpg and the head gasket is hit or miss but.... I beat the total crap outa mine v6 auto 176,000 miles hg was done 2nd tranny and had a easy life before my ownership. I'm surprised i didn't wear out the rev limiter for the 3,000 miles that i drove it. I wheeled the piss outa it all stock on 31's smashed every body panel and broke 2 windows a tie rod sleeve and ripped a hard line off the front brakes. I sold it to a local 18 year old farmer about a year ago who is STILL trying to kill it!
If i was going to buy another......
Find one as clean as possible and cheap use the hg recall to your advanatge
get a 5speed
convert to manual hubs asap
get rid of the cross over pipe and fab up a y pipe or run headers in to a 2.5 exhaust
convert to a gear drive t case
The 3.0 sucks but the overall platform makes up for it its still a boxed frame with a steering box and its way cheaper in the long run if you plan on really buliding one compared to a 3rd gen or a taco ect.
I have faith in a 3.0 that was fixed correctly.
