So i bought the rear end from a yard, and it works and everything, but the problem is, the truck sits all the way down on the bump stops. I have been working on this project all week, which has pissed me off so much. I am so close to selling it, lol.

Anyways, I cannot figure out why it sits so low!!

Could it be the struts, because they didn't look to healthy.

The rear end is out of a durango that tops mounts on the leaf springs, vs my old one being mounted on the bottom.



All and any help is appreciated, thanks in advance

 

I think you just answered your own question, if the Durango axle sits on top of the leafs vs the one you took out ( axle under) then you need to pull the axle back out and weld on new leaf spring perches ( on top of axle housing)

 

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-end-swap.html

If ya look here, he did the swap, did the same as me. I don't know what could be the problem. It's like there's no springs to hold the damn thing up.

 

hopefully someone else can verify this,but, is your Dakota 4wd?? cause the guy in that thread has 2wd, pretty sure he had a leaf under setup to begin with, and yours was leaf over...

 

44 Dakota is correct. Your orig. axle was mounted below the springs. By putting the new axle above the springs is going to lower the truck.
You need to weld spring mounts on the top of the axle and mount it under the spring. FWIW if your careful, you can reuse the existing mounts. Just make sure to set the pinion angle correctly and center the axle.

 

With most vehicles flipping the axle provides +- 5.5" lift or drop. you get the axle tube thickness and double the spring pack thickness ans is a common way to lift Jeeps or lower 2WD trucks. Guys the flip for lowering (ie spring over to spring under) also will usually c-notch the frame so they dont have the problem you are experiencing.

 

So if anyone wanted to know if it can be done on a 4x4, yes it can. I have been running the setup for about 3 months and no problems. We flipped the mounts for the springs, cut the old strut mounts off the old axle and welded it all up. Limited slip and 11 inch brakes are awesome. This extra braking has saved me from having several deer in my grill, all though I did run a family over the other night (doing like 20 Mph so no damage)
The only problem I can think of is the gear ratios from the front diff, to the rear. 3.55 gears in back vs (3.94?) Up front. Does anyone know if front diffs are interchangeable from the different gen trucks? Or is there a 3.55 gears I can buy just to swap with?

 

Your 4x4 has 3.90 gears in it? Weird. Never seen a 4x4 with 3.90's..

Anyways, what's year is yours, aside first gen? And what year was the rear end from? Being disc brakes I'm guessing wither 03 or 04. Did you have to get a different driveshaft?

Also, seeing the word twice , YOU DONT HAVE STRUTS!!!!

 

Look on the underside of the hood. Should be a sticker that tells you the axle ratio the truck came stock with. I don't know what gears were available on the 4x4, but like most, I have 3.55s.