No Dakota expert, but I would say any manual trans version is OK.
For an auto trans IMO I would go '04+ as I think the 42RLE trans mated to the 3.7's might hold up best, at least if not doing a lot of towing. It's relatively small physical size still makes me wonder what lots of towing would do to it.
It does however deliver nice, nearly seamless shifts unless at WOT or during an abrupt throttle change, much smoother overall than a S-10 or Ranger of similar vintage IMO.