I like the 3.4 myself. Powerful, reliable, and easier to work on. The 22re is popular cause they are common and easy to work on. Not much in the power dept though.
There is nothing
wrong with the 3.0 per say. It is more like there isn't much right about it. The engine is not gutless but isn't a powerhouse either, especially for its size. It isn't anything special in the fuel economy area either. For me the biggest downside is that it is a pregnant dog to work on for the most part. They got a bad rap for the head gasket thing but I hear far more 22re head gasket stories then I do 3.0 stories. One thing I will say about it is that it revs smooth. If you break traction the 3.0 will rev from 2500-6000rpm in the blink of an eye. Just don't expect to see any more power to come out when it does. I am not so dissapointed by the 3.0 that I am in a hurry to get rid of it, however I don't like it enough to spend a dime on it if anything major goes wrong. I will be getting something else to replace it.
![My Two Cents :twocents:](https://board.marlincrawler.com/Smileys/marlin/twocents.gif)