I have a 1998 Durango that came with factory rear drums and they SUCKED. I found that the last of the Gen1 Durango, the 2003, came with rear disc brakes. I bought a donor axle, and with some fairly in depth modifications and some welding I had successfully adapted the 2003 rear disc brakes onto my 1998 Durango. That was a fantastic upgrade and I'm getting to the point where I would like to do something similar to my 1999 Ram.

So, first, how far forward do the axles interchange with my 1998 Ram? Do they go up into the later Gen Rams or just Gen2? Specifically, what years can I look for for axles that will bolt right in place?

Then, at what point did the Ram start getting rear disc brakes? If it's in a range of years that can be swapped into my truck I'll just look for a good rear axle with the parts still on it, that matches my rear gears, and just swap the whole axle.

The only reason I didn't do that with my Durango was because I thought the parts were bolt on swappable...which they were not, and the gears did not match so I could not simply change them.

Lesson learned...this time, if possible, I will just find a swappable matching rear axle that has factory disc brakes.