Soooo.....I entered this rabbit hole tonight, but at least I found my way out in the same evening.

I had ordered a starter on AWD (Amazon Warehouse Deals) thinking I was sooooo clever: $58 for something where O'Reilly wants $183 (although, yes, you get a LT warranty with them which actually can be useful)

All was looking good until I realized I had ordered a '99-03 starter and I was working on a '98. From what I can tell the ONLY difference is the connection method for the trigger wire.

'98 and earlier uses a ring terminal (awesome, simple, basically universal) while '99+ uses a proprietary connector which is relatively massive in size for a single wire connection.

Searching online revealed no results for a pigtail connector but several people have tried, just like me. Most people were looking because of failed plastic within the connector itself, something a ring terminal is not subject to.
https://www.dodgedurango.net/threads...starter.82893/

Ironically, I was able to find the part that SOLDERS onto/into the starter itself (on ebay) but the single wire external connector appears to be NLA.

Thus, I entered the rabbit hole and, not wanting to solder anything, I decided to keep the section of the '98 starter case with the two threaded studs:

Although disassembled, here's the '98 and earlier starter. Note two threaded studs external. Also note the wear to the copper contact top, inside

Here's the '99-03 with stupid plastic connector exterior

Here's what a bench for a Frankenstarter looks like

Here's what a completed Frankenstarter looks like. I was able to swap the worn copper contact (left hand), note the fresh shiny copper threaded stud now protruding from old case section

 

Also, I'm going to say that '98 and earlier is a superior setup and go so far as to suggest that if you're replacing a starter '99-03 you should "upgrade" by getting a '98 starter. All you'd need to do is clip off the failure-prone plastic connector and crimp on a ring terminal. Done.

 

Here was somebody having a similar issue, but on an '04 CTD. From what I can see the connector is different so later-model diesel parts won't help us gas guys
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads...connector.html

Here's another example of a diesel user also looking for the connector, BUT the user mwilson suggests a really cool (but not very user-friendly) site for tons of Mopar connectors. Worth a look if you wanna go into the rabbit hole of automotive electrical connectors (incidentally, I was unable to find the connector for the '99-03 starters here, leading me to believe it is simply not sold anymore)
https://www.turbodieselregister.com/...il-p-n.271086/

 

I'll second this! I replaced the starter on my 2001 with a new one, with the plastic P.o.s., and was amazed when my father in law's '98 starter didn't have plastic.