I did a shackle flip in the rear with stock Ramcharger leaf springs. That got me probably 4" of lift, plus I have 2" blocks. I'm not necessarily crazy about blocks, but I like add-a-leafs even less. And 2" blocks aren't enough to cause any problems.

BTW, my front springs are 2.5" lift springs meant for a Ramcharger.

 

Got a few pictures I can look at?

 

I have a few pictures here. Not a lot of detailed stuff, though.

 

What axles with fit my aftermarket rims that's on my dakota now? And could I use both front and rear axles out of the Donner vehicle?

 

Pretty much nothing has the same 6-lug pattern as your Dakota, so you're out of luck there. You can use both axles from the donor, but a Dana 44 will last about 3 minutes behind a Cummins. You may want to go with a 14-bolt right off the bat to avoid doing it twice. You'll also need to find some 8-lug outers for your front axle if you want the wheels to match.

 

With a heavy Cummins up front why dick around.
Dana 60 front and rear.
Stop playing games. Go big or go home.
You've swapped transmissions. Your swapping engines.
Yet your asking us questions about diffs that are just beginner things.
Things everyone knows already.
Buy a Ram 3500 and swap it over already.

 

Well I'm trying to get the right parts so when I do all this , so when I go to drive off after the axle and engine swap it doesn't grenade them.....that's why I'm asking the questions I am, what axles with work best for when I do the engine swap?

 

I have a 97 and hold a little envy for the Yotas that seem to be able to be lifted easy with a basic kit.. vs ours that is built like a damn SUV..

I would love to do this with my truck; one day if you get really bored.. you should make a break down of parts and costs. or if you have any diagrams of the part built and so on.. think it might be a very usful workup

 

If I were doing it, I would use a Dana 60 Front and a 14-bolt full-floating Chevy rear. You could also use a Dana 70 rear, but 14-bolts are cheap, plentiful, and super-strong. Dana 60 fronts are pretty expensive (unless you get a unit bearing or CAD axle, but those kind of suck). Better to do it right than do it twice, though.

It would be cool, but I'd be doing most of it from memory, and my memory isn't so good these days.

It really isn't a tough job if you have some fabrication skills and the right tools. I collected all my parts beforehand and was able to do most of the swap in a weekend. If I were doing it again, I would consider using radius arms (preferably longer than the stock Ford ones) with coilovers, but I was kind of on a budget and the leaf springs work just fine.

 

If you want to put in the 5.9 you will want the dana 60 front. The 5.9 weight is around 1,000lbs so you will need 8 bolt and heavy suspension. You're better off finding a rusted out/wrecked 1st gen with a cummins and putting your body on the frame.