as of right now, i have my torsion bars cranked about 1.5" and 2" blocks in the back. by doing the solid axle swap would i have less clearance since everything is back to its stock angle?

 

The solid axle completely eliminates your torsion bars, control arms, CV axles, frond differential, and whole front suspension. So, no worries about angles (except for driveshaft angle). You can do an inexpensive shackle flip in the back to get a lot of the lift you need and make up the difference with add-a-leafs and/or blocks.

 

JMHO, If you aren't sure/don't understand what a solid axle swap is or does, and you're paying $85/hr for labor (which is low, most general shops here in DFW are around 100, specialty shops around 110-120), you probably will be in far too deep to realize how deep you are.

 

thats what im here to learn. What are the reasons or benefits for doing a SAS?

 

you pretty much cut everything off the frame between the firewall and front bumper. Gives you a stronger front half (welds being your weak point), gives you options of ladder bar, 4 link, triagulated 4 link, leaf springs, ect. More articulation, bigger tire options.

The hardest 2 parts is finding a front axle the right width and right drop side, and dealing with having 5 lug front wheels and 6 lug rears.

 

that helps a lot thanks. Also, why would the front wheels need to be 5 lug?

 

no 6 lug solid front axles exist. Most are Ford/Chevy/Dodge 5 on 4.5/5.5" or 8 on 6" lug. The Dakota 6 lug pattern is only otherwise used on the Nissan Xterra. Swapping to a rear ford 9 to get a matching bolt pattern doesn't work because of the ABS sender system (which is req'd to pass inspection in most states, plus it drives the speedometer in some cases). So you basically have to deal with 6 lug rear and 5 or 8 lug front. I am working with a friend to develop a 5 lug dakota axle, but it's a long tedious process.

 

I used a 6-lug front axle from a Jeep J-10 pickup (same as a wide-track Wagoneer). It's not the same as the Dakota 6-lug pattern, though, so I used 1.5" spacers/adapters in the rear to match the 6 on 5.5" pattern in the front. This made the rear width perfectly match the front until I replaced the rear axle with a 6-lug Chevy 14-bolt semi-floater. I wasn't able to retain the ABS with the Chevy axle, but it wasn't important to me. If you want to keep the ABS, you can just use the spacers with the original rear end. If you use wheels with a lot of positive offset (mine are 8" wide with 5.5" backspacing), the tires won't stick way out of the fenders.