I have a 1998 2500 ram 5.9L 108k clean a fastman 52mm k&n cold air intake. accel coil. needs ball joints and a tune up no biggie.
I also have a 1996 2500 5.2L 275k with a rebuilt frontend headers new daul exhaust. 9' boss plow. the bad headlight wiring issues rusty. no rear doors
both are quad cabs.
I want to plow. so is it a no brainer and swap the good from the 96 on to the 98 like the whole front axle swap and plow exhaust ect.

 

I would think so.... the headlight wiring issues could just be someone stuck 9007 headlights where 9004 bulbs should be (seen it on mine)

 

the po of the 96 rebuilted the frontend and cut wires and added wires for the headlights trying to figure it out. paid $3500.00 for it it has a 9' boss plow headers daul exhuast nice radio.

 

should be good, id use new hardware on whatever you swap though, makes it soo much easier

 

Augiedoggy has probably hit the nail on the head. I even made the mistake of thinking I could install the 9007 lamps in my truck to no avail. What kind of shape is the 96 in? Is the headlight issue the only reason that you want to swap the plow system? If so the fix the headlights on the 96 and use it for a plow truck as it is much cheaper/easier to do that than to swap the entire plow system over. Oh I just thought of something. When the PO put the plow setup on they may have miswired the headlights on the plow system creating your problem. If you know what brand plow they put on it I can get you the proper wiring diagram to rewire the headlights so that they work correctly.

 

Jakemarry, If you are dead set on swapping the plow system over to the newer truck and aren't too far away we might be able to work out a deal on this issue. PM me if you want to see what I have in mind.

 

Change the frt diff ? From a 2500 to a 1500 , or from a 8 bolt dana 80 to a 5 bolt dane 44 ? I must be mis reading it , only a few bad ball joints ? . Are the side axles interchangable ? , can't see anything else matching on the frt axle . Other than the suspension , everything else should be a fit

The 9007's can be wired in , or , I know where you buy get a harness (99% sure) I use to have the wiring diagram for this , I'll try to dig it up