The rear in my truck is a howler...so fo a quick fix, I found a 97 Dakota rear with LSD and 3.55's.
My truck is a 92 ext cab, 2wd, with auto and 5.2V8.
Will this rear bolt in or is it a fabrication deal.

 

It should be a easy swap. But one shock bracket will not work.

 

As long as both are 2WD should be an easy swap.

 

I think the pinion angles are different (IIRC from Bad96_3.9s swap), so you may have to use a wedge or weld on new perches at the right angle like I did. And like said above, you will need to change the shock tab orientation.

 

The "quick fix" though might be simply changing the rear end fluid and making sure you have the right fluid and right amount in it and then driving it for around 100 miles or so to see if the noise goes away. That is if by "howler" you meant noisy...not sure if you were using lingo or not.

You may be very unhappy by the way with a 3:55 gear ratio since it provides poor gas mileage and puts little power to the ground unless your driving in the high RPM band. You may be happier with a 3:99, they supposedly have the best gas mileage to power ratio for our trucks with the stock ratio options. 4:10 gear ratio provides a lot of power to the ground but poor fuel mileage. I know this since my current truck has a 3:55 rear with a V6 magnum and only gets about 20 MPG and the truck i got my new engine from (also a 3.9 V6 Magnum) had a 4:10 ratio and only got 17MPG. When my Fathers Dakota (3.9 V6 Magnum) had a 3:99 in the rear he was getting about 22-23 MPG and it has a lot more power to the ground then a 3:55 and still has a fast top speed with not very high RPM's. That is based on the assumption that all 3 Dakota's had the same transmission gearing, all are automatic's though.

 

Thanks for all the info, but it is all for not. Thought the transmission was doing good..no issues as of late, then bang..lost reverse, truck would feel like it was dropping into reverse, but when you gave it throttle, it would not move. Was able to get it home, drive worked fine, when I put it into reverse, I got nothing but a grinding noise. So I am totally convinced it is toast.
Problem is none of the wreckers/recyclers seem to have a replacement for it. Looking at possibly, swapping in a NV3500, screw with autos.....now have to figure out what is needed.

 

For the manual swap check out 95_318SLT signature. He did the swap and has the link on there. He posted earlier. Look up for his post.