OK so my question is since the durangos do not have a solid front axle would I be able to do a full swap if I have a donor ram for the front axle and a rear axle swap, could I use all the driving components and suspension for the front and rear from the ram

 

i believe the answer is no since the RAM trucks are wider than the durangos, the axles would be too long.

there is a guy in the 2nd gen dakota section who has done a SAS on his dakota, it should be the same if you can find his thread it should have alot of information

 

You can swap whatever you want into whatever you want. The difficulty, expense and work effort will just vary. You can lift, use 40" tires, cut fenders, change gear ratios, etc. Only you can decide if the project in your head is too large for your wallet, skill, time, and effort.

[Sorry, Jeep thinking, skys the limit.]

 

you can use full size axles, just buy wheels with more offset if you dont want them sticking out so much, my front axle is a dana 44 out of a full size 77 f150..

 

You'll find more info on Dakotas. Dana 44 is a good bet. Ram 1500s of our generation only used dana 35s and 30s I believe so I wouldn't touch one of those. But as far as axle width, I'm 99% sure the Durangos use full width rear axles, just offset wheels to the inside. I read and compared a long time ago.

 

2nd Gen Rams (94-01) had Dana 44's up front.

 

Odd. Gonna have to climb up under it again. Checked the ID tag on my buddy's 2000 1500 to get a pinion bearing and seal and according to the axle ID tag it turned up to be a 35 and I did some research and people said the 35 was very common. It's a very small differential housing, not what I would expect to find underneath a half ton truck with a cast iron V8 but that's what it said.

 

Indeed. I wonder if it was changed at some point in the trucks life, as so far as I know, the 44 was standard on the half tons.

 

Definitely weird. All the parts lookups were showing parts for Dana 35 as well so I don't know. It's a very small differential I know that. I wouldn't trust it under my truck. A 44 I would but not what's under my buddy's truck

 

As far as I have ever seen all 1500 4x4s had a dana 44. The durangos and dakotas had a 35 ifs until 2000 when they switched to a chrysler 8" ifs iirc. Randy's ring and pinion only lists a dana 44 for the 1500 as well.