hi guys,ive been planning a solid axle swap for a long time now for my 95 zr2 s10,but,since i bought my 4wd 2001 dakota,ive been pondering on the idea of doing this swap to the dodge,i already have the front dana 44 built with 4.56 gears waiting to go in to something,my question is,how much extra work would be involved to go from rack and pinion steering back to the old gearbox,can i just find a box from an older dakota or durango and bolt it on??im sure the steering shaft is different also? any help would be appreciated on this..thanks..

 

I know Tom A has an SAS thread on here somewhere. He's also an active member so I'm sure he could answer some of your questions.

IIRC his is a 99 and still had the old steering box but someone else might be able to help you, I have no idea if you can just swap the rack and pinion out.

 

Mine is actually a 97, but you're right. It already had a steering box, so it was relatively easy. The hot ticket for the rack and pinion trucks, IIRC, is an older F-250 box (maybe '79?) that bolts very nicely on the outside of the frame rail. You'll need to put sleeves in the frame because the front section is boxed, but it's pretty straightforward.

 

thanks man

thanks tom,your dakota is truly bad @ss!!! do you have a link for a build thread on this??

 

I have to agree Tom A does have a bad A$$ truck. His SAS thread along with a several more are in the FAQ in this section.

I have a 1st Gen Dakota SAS, luckily for us the 4wd has a gearbox, while the 2wd had rack and pinions.

 

Thanks for the compliments. My build thread is, unfortunately, kind of lame (sorry), but I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have that aren't covered in it.

 

thanks guys,i found those build threads,ill look through them tonight when i get off work,im thinking 33 to 35" tire so my big concern will be trying to find the best leaf spring combination for the front,but,i realize that also has a lot to do with how much drop is in the front hanger as well,im sure ill have some questions for both of you after im done reading through those..lol.