i have a 97 dakota 3.9 and i am doing a swap to a 5.2 tomorrow. i got the motor and trans together. i was wondering if my rearend will hold up to the 5.2? is there a bigger rearend i could put into it or something? its got 3 inch lift and 32 inch tires if that means anything

 

At the minimum it should have a 29 spline 8.25 in it already, which is a hell of a lot stronger than the 27 spline 8.25 that came in the 1st gens behind V8s..

HemiDak on the Dakota forums has a 5.7 hemi in his truck with nearly 400HP at the crank with a 29 spline 8.25 with a Detroit locker, 4.56s and 33s and hasn't had any problems..

 

Lol, well which rear end do you have in it now? Dodge put 2 different ones in the 2nd gens. The 8.25 inch has a 10 bolt oval shaped cover and the 9.25 inch has a 12 bolt octagonal cover. Both will hold up to the v8, but if you're really worried about it and have the 8.25 inch, you could look for a 9.25 inch to swap in.