I have a 1999 ram sport 1500 4x4 5 speed and I was wondering which rear axles i could just bolt up to it. Will any 94-01 1500 axles work with the 3.55 gears even if they are 2wd and also do the 2500 rears work.

 

Why are you replacing the whole axle? Just for the gearing? All these trucks, 2X or 4X, use either the corporate 9.5", the Dana 70 or 80 in the rear. Should be little problem with interchanging the 9.5" or the 70. The 80 is specifically for 3500 diesels and dualies and probably won't fit.

 

All 1500 axles will interchange. 2wds should work as long as the spring pad is on top of the axle. I wonder if someone has done this and iff the pinion angle on a 2wd axle is different.
2500 axles will work but most are setup for a 3 inch wide leaf where 1500s have 2.5s. Also your driveshaft may need to be shortened and the proper U-joint yoke welded on.

 

would it be better just to rebuild the rear if its bad or try to find a whole rear axle and change it out

 

If you have a 1500 series then it would be much cheaper to simply rebuild your rear over trying to replace it with a 2500/3500 series rear and have to change yokes/driveshafts etc.. What is actually wrong with your rear? Broken ring or pinion gears or bad bearings? Unless your housing is damaged i would go with rebuilding it. If you know someone who actually knows how to set the pinion depth, side play, and gear mesh then it really isn't a big task at all.

 

The rear is making a howling noise it is going to the mechanic tomorrow I'm not sure whats wrong with it but im planning for the worst

 

Howling noise sounds like the gears are not meshing correctly and is probably the pinon bearing being worn out allowing the pinion to tilt slightly allowing the mismatch of gears creating the noise. Your probably looking at around 500-600 for a quality fix with all new bearings, seals, and shims. Let us know what you find out.

 

Definitely not good, but unless you bent an axle tube or cracked the housing you shouldn't need to replace the entire axle.

 

yea but if it cost over 1000 to rebuild the rear I can find a used axle assembly for a good bit cheaper than that

 

That's why I said you would be looking at 500-600 to rebuild yours. You would pay in that neighborhood for a used 3/4-1 ton axle assembly. Take it and get an estimate on rebuilding yours. Like Miami and I said unless your housing is damaged you are in good shape for a rebuild.