[03GOLDDAKOTA]

ok so how come the dakotas and rams use the same front axle. But the rams handle 35's no problem or am i just missing something some where becouse i recently blew my front dif apart and wanted to know why the rams dont have this problem. And how hard it would be to put one in a dakota since there supposed to be the same dif.

 

[Leo72987]

The rams variant does have a larger pinion bearing but that's the only difference i'm aware of.

 

[KotaKid287]

Interesting idea, are the mounts the same? The larger bearings are the only difference that I'm aware of, but there could be more different then that.

 

[Leo72987]

I crawled under my buddies 2005 ram 1500 they seem to have a slightly different torsion bar setup than are dakotas to. Also found this article you guys will find very interesting http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/techarticles/suspension/131_0509_dodge_truck_ifs_lift_kit/index.html

 

[03GOLDDAKOTA]

i just thought this would be an idea fow those who dont do enough offroading to constatute sas but also dont want to blow the dif apart. the difs seem to blow up before anything else in our trucks. and the dif in the ram can handle blowing the control arms apart before it does. but my main question is y are they stronger and how hard the swap would be

 

[4Lo]

lol I fuked up trying to quote my own original post.

What I was going to say was that I wasn't trying to be a dink I was just askin if he had compared them visually..:bump:

 

[03GOLDDAKOTA]

no i havent compared them visually becouse i dont have one to compare to.

 

[Jackedak03]

I always wondered this as well- there are guys with 37's over on Dtalk.com. I have a ton of Rams in my fleet, I'll see if I can snap a couple pics with my phone next week.

 

[caulk04]

The only difference in the internals, as mentioned, is the larger pinion bearings. Same gearset, same differential. The case? May have more/different/better mounts...nobody has a side by side comparison.

 

[Rob454]

ok so how come the dakotas and rams use the same front axle. But the rams handle 35's no problem or am i just missing something some where becouse i recently blew my front dif apart and wanted to know why the rams dont have this problem. And how hard it would be to put one in a dakota since there supposed to be the same dif.

From what I understand the Rams break like the Dakota front axles do. My buddy is a Dodge tech and he does transmissions and axles.

 

[toy4whatever]

Well I wasnt going to mention my plan but I stumbled across this thread and just cant keep it to myself.

I will be doing some on-hands research on this some time in the next year. The plan is to take a set of Ram 1500 knuckles with everthing attached(hub,brakes) and put them on my Dakota. I will be using the Ram half shafts so this will make my front end almost 6" wider. I have already been doing some checking and the spline count going into both axles are 29 spline. The difference is the length and the spline count on the hub side of the two. I will be building a set of tubular upper and lower a-arms. The upper arm will be moved to the top of the frame. The best part is I'm using a coilover set up instead of the torsion bar. I will use a hoop for the shocks to mount on then running a cross bar across the engine for added support. Yes I will be changing to the Ram lug pattern as well. For the rear I will just be using spacer/adapters to make up the difference in width and convert to same lug pattern. I am hoping for a 3 to 4" lift but depends on how I design the a-arms.

Before you tell me that it will be cheaper to do a SAS, I already know that. I have a truck built for my offroad fun. I want to keep my Dakota as a DD with lite offroad use. Im mainly looking for a better ride both on and offroad. PLUS, I think it will look great when I'm finished.

Now tell me your thoughts.

 

[KotaKid287]

Very interesting idea! Git-R-Dun!

 

[Leo72987]

Ya man sounds sweet take some picks when you start the process very interesting idea !

 

[rollers888]

sounds like in intense build, keep us updated

 

[03GOLDDAKOTA]

that'll be bad ass throw some ram 20"s and 33's on there
and the coilovers wil make your truck ride ike a caddy.

 

[toy4whatever]

No 20s. 17s and 33s. I was just looking at some chevy flares and it looks like I can make them fit. This will allow me to cut the fenders out for more clerence. I also got a look at some tubular control arms on a 2wd chevy to give me a good starting point. I think it was 1.75" DOM which will be really strong. The hoop will need to be a large radius bend to clear the top control arms. I also talked to a guy at Desert Rat about the stock knuckles they swap out when they do a lift. He said they give them back to the customer but 90% of the time they throw them away. He has my number.

 

[03GOLDDAKOTA]

if you want to gain more than like two inches of lift you might want to think about getting like the axel drop brakets and steering nuckles from a ram lift kit to keep the cv joints at a less severe angle and i think you should give the 20's a second chance and for the rear y not just get the rear axel from a ram to match the width

 

[KotaKid287]

17s look infinitely better on smaller trucks like Dakotas imo but I would also suggest just getting a Ram rear axle to match.