Hello! First of all let me just say that im new to this forum and not really sure about the search function so if a similiar thred do exist. I apologize.

Now to my problem.. I live in Sweden, which means we have like 4ft of snow during these months and alot of ice. So one day as i was taking my dodge dakota to the local pizza place. This was in particular a very icy day. I jump in, fire up the truck and puts in drive and tries to drive away. With my truck weighing like 0 lb in the rear end it just spins. (I thought, acutally i had forgotten i had the e-brake in) anywho, i punch the gas and kabom.. I tore the cable for the e-brake as well as ripping the part of the drumbrake that fits to rearaxle into pieces..

As i live in Sweden, dodge parts are not easily found and i quickly realized just replacing the whole rear axle would be the smoothest way to fix this.

So, to my question, i found on a scrapheap in sweden a rear axle for a ram 1500 from 95.. Will it fit on my dakota-90? I asked the guy who worked there and he couldnt give me a good answer on wheter it was a 9" or a 8 1/4" axle, (which is the one, i atleast think i have)

Please help!

 

The Ram rear end is probably a 9 1/4" which will probably be too wide for the Dakota. Too much custom work will have to be done to make it worth doing. Search the internet for the parts you need (I'm guessing you were talking about the backing plate) and just replace it. I would try to keep the 9 1/4" as a last resort if you cannot get the parts you need.

 

I agree with this. But, can you post a picture of what you broke? It sounds like the backing plate, but that is an unusual item to break. If you just need a backing plate and park brake cable, those parts shouldn't be too hard to find, or too expensive if you have to buy them new.

 

Jake, do post a photo of the rear brake that broke. Seems to me your axle might be okay.

How far are you from Malmo, or Skanor? One of my best friends lives in Falstebo. We were there a few years ago.

 

a 90 will be a 5 bolt pattern, 91+ will be a 6 bolt but the brakes and backing plate (other than the drum and different # of lug holes) will be the same sometime between 90 and 94 though they changed the yoke. (bigger U joint on the newer one)
if both ate an 8-1/4 model rearend you can swap 5 lug for 6 lug axles and drums into the "good" housing.
that said, a buddy of mine had new tires put onto his 98 1500, and he wound up losing the L R wheel and tire (dumb a$$e$ at tire shop didnt tighten lugs I guess)
Anyways I went to Dodge and they wanted $435 for a backing plate, I found one at a Mopar Wholesale place online for $300 (NOT a misprint)
I wound up having to fix the truck for him as the tire shop shirked their responsibility
("not responsible" b/c he didnt return to have lugs retorqued what a line of BS)
so I had to go to a junkyard and pull a rearend there apart to get him a backing plate cost $8.00 plus my time to pull it apart.... this was a "pick n pull"
nother idea; Minivans (Caravan Voyager) may be front wheel drive but take the same exact brake shoes as the Dakota did; backing plate may be the same.
ALSO; Jeep Cherokee XJ's newer than about 92 until they quit building Cherokees in 2001, took the same brake parts as the Dakota did (Dakotas brakes were the same '87-96 except the drum itself, as noted above) and some Cherokees came with the Chrysler 8-1/4 same brakes, same mdel rearend=same backing plate.

And mong the Cherokees I know for a fact that though they used 2 different rearends, (Dana 35 and Chry 8-1/4) both used teh same backing plates.

MOST had the 9" brakes a few had 10" diam brakes make sure you get a backing plate off a vehicle with same size brakes as your truck (measuring the inside diam of drum where the shoes ride, NOT the outer diameter!)

 

I still have the complete rear drum brake assemblies from my Jeep Wrangler that I no longer own. They take the same brake shoes as the 9" Dakota brakes, so I'm thinking they're the same. Unfortunately, I think shipping to Sweden would kill you.

 

Hi! Thanks for your replies! Yes it was backing plate i broke.. And finding a new one has proven to be quite difficult in these parts of the world..
Macdac: I live in stockholm, which is like 600 kilometers from malmö, which is around 370 miles i think. But yea, the axle isnt really the problem but finding the backing plate is a problem indeed.

But if you guys still think i should post a picture i'll do that. But im almost 100% its the backing plate which is broken, and tore it self from the axle..

 

Thanks i'll keep that in mind too!