You better bet they salt the roads here (and worse yet is that damn liquid brine that they started using a few years ago) I live an hour south of Chicago.
And as an auto mechanic for a living, Yeah I have changed my share of backing plates, believe me. I can only ever remember changing a few on Dodges (cars-vans-trucks) and this goes back to when I started wrenching in the 80s. One was a 98 full size Ram, that the guy had tires put on at a place and he lost the LR tire and wheel shortly after, the wheel and drum flew into the cornfield and the truck came to a grinding halt on the backing plate.
Other than that just when doing rear end swaps because the replacement rear end has different brakes than the recipient does, or on a restore where someone puts in a more powerful powertrain and the owner wants the biggest brakes available on compatible vehicles to whatever I was working on.

Ford trucks about '06 and newer are notorious for backing plates, they are paper thin and the hold down nails that hold the Ebrake shoes love to pull thru the backing plates. I remember doing many Regals, Monte Carlos, etc backing plates when they had wheel cylinders that were held in by just a spring clip.
also; believe it or not, alot of Jeep Cherokees, Wranglers and minivans take the same 9" shoes, wheel cylinders, and hardware but different drums (bolt pattern, and 5-or 6-lug) and many of the Cherokees have the same 8-1/4 rear ends as the Dakota so I'm thinking they should have the same backing plates too.... (but can't say for sure)

 

That would be sweet if I could find a a backing plate from a Jeep that fits this axle. Good idea, I'll do some research.

To expound a little, this trucks frame rotted and broke. Put a rot free frame under it but that gives you an idea of how much freakin salt this thing has seen.

 

I have seen a few of these trucks in the junkyard with bad frames but generally it seems that most of these series of trucks held up better than the newer ones that replaced them, the 97 and up seem to be rotted worse around here even though they are newer,. The 96 and older ones certainly hold up better than the S10s and Rangers.

 

No disagreement here.

Worst frames* of recent times I think have been the Chevy trucks from '99-'06 or so. Also worst rockers, cab corners and overall body & frame corrosion protection.

*Really, the Tacoma frames were worse but Toyota generally took care of the owners. The Chevy frames just rotted out and most owners had no recourse.

 

yeah I had to replace the frame on my 97 Wrangler back around '09/ lots of part-outs on CL of those around here because of the same reason.....

 

Yeah, too bad you're not here. Desert SW is the best for mining used parts in the wrecking yard. No snow, no salt, no brine. Fasteners don't break, parts don't rust. I grew up in w. michigan and can't imagine ever movig back. We are SO spoiled!

I may be making a trip to the local Pull a Part this week, if you'll tell me exactly what you need and promise to pay for the part and the shipping if I see a likely pair I'll try to pull them off.

 

Thanks man that's real nice of you! I think I'm gonna try and upgrade to 10" brakes though. Saw online a Jeep guy who did that on his Cherokee with 2nd gen Dak brakes, he was able to get brand new plates but that was a couple years ago, they're still listed on some sites though. In the event you find some 10" plates and hardware (mostly just need the parking brake lever) off an 8.25 axle for a decent price I would certainly pay you. My limit would be maybe $80 for a pair plus shipping obviously and something for your time.

 

I'll see what I can find. Labor would be in the cost.

Got me thinking yesterday I might spend a day looking at backing plates to put on Ebay. Looks like there's pretty decent money in it. For Rams, too.