text: The LE, later renamed SLT, was the top-of-the-line trim level. It added features such as cloth seating surfaces, air conditioning, an AM/FM stereo with cassette player and a four-speaker audio system, alloy wheels, bodyside cladding, carpeted flooring, and power windows and door locks to the mid-range Sport model. V6 and V8 engines were available on LE or SLT models.
  Engines
  1987–1988:  K I4, SOHC,
  1987–1991:  LA V6,
  1989–1995:  K I4,
  1991:  LA V8,
  1992–1993:  Magnum V6,
  1992–1993:  Magnum V8,
  1994–1996:  Magnum V6,
  1994–1996:  Magnum V8,
  1996:  AMC I4,
  Second generation (1997–2004)
  The second-generation Dakota began development in 1991, with an exterior design proposal by Dennis Myles under design director John R. Starr being approved in mid-1993 and frozen for production in January 1994, 30 months ahead of Job 1. Design patents were filed on May 20, 1994, under D373,979 at the USPTO. The 1997 model year Dakota was unveiled via press release in the summer of 1996 and built from July 1996 through July 2004. It inherited the semi truck look of the larger Ram, but remained largely the same underneath, although steering was updated on two-wheel drive models to a rack-and-pinion system as a part of the redesign. That year had the introduction of the "R/T" model with the 5.9L  Magnum V8. At the time of its introduction, it was seen as one of the most radical in its class, not only for its styling, but also because it remained the only truck in its class with an available V8 engine that rivaled many V8s found in full-sized trucks with payloads up to .