Hello Forum, want to see if I could get some help from those who have done this swap before. I did a bit of research before I started this and most everyone said that its pretty much a direct bolt on, I know relize peoples opinion of "Direct Bolt On" are quite different than mine. So heres the senerio. I have an nice 01 extended cab short bed 1500 and a beater 98 extended cab long bed 2500, both 5.9 gas motors. I want to keep the 98 as my trash/beater truck and I would like to beef up the axles on the 01 because i'm running 37" tires. So my bright idea after reading a few post was Lets Swap Some Axles! So I get the rear axle off of the 01 fairly easy, I think the hardest part was actually the parking brake line. Next I go to remove the rear axle off of the 98 and half way through I start to relize how different the connection between the driveshaft and axle are, there actually a completly different design. Then I notice how the U joints on the 98 are much thicker than the 01's. This puts the project at a huge halt, I was actually thinking to myself I was going to finish this in a weekend.

So my questions are how can I get the 1500's drive shaft to connect to the 2500's axle, and vis versa for the 2500's driveshaft. Unfortunatly I cannot swap driveshafts because one is a long bed and the other is not...
Will the driveshaft have to be cut or added to at all?
Will the parking brake cable have to be swapped from one truck to the other?
After this issue is there any other suprises that I might run into when I get up to the front axle?

 

I think it depends on the cab/bed combo, but both driveshafts may have to be shortened. to get them hooked to the axle you need to run a combo ujoint. I think 2500s use a 1410 iirc. Not sure on the parking brake cable.

 

You are correct on the 1410 joint cause I just did this swap in my shop truck sittin on 40s. We had to shorten the rear shaft 2 or so inches. Brakes bolt up as far as lines are concerned. Parkin brake needs a shorter intermidiate cable for them to hook up. Front you have to use the drivers side brake line cause dosges have that dern splitter on it for the passenger side use whatever one you want. To get the 1500 drivers line to work on the 2500 caliper you may need to rotate the caliper side around to the flat portion. Also you need a new front ujoint for the d shaft. Part number 458 if I remeber correctly from napa. When gou get the rear shaft shortened up just have them weld on a 1410 yoke to the end of it its what we did and didn't cost all that much either like 90 bucks or so from our local shop. Hope this helps you any with your swap

 

With the body styles being different you will need to get your driveshafts modified like previously stated.. You are also going to need to cut the 2500's spring hangers off and weld them onto your 1500.. The rear axle is not a direct bolt in.. The front is but the rear requires cutting and welding along with all the driveshaft mods..

 

Now shortening the axles seems to be a debated issue as well, I've read some people chopping 1 or 2 inches, and others saying no modification is needed, I guess it depends on the years and body styles bieng swapped. Measuring mine seems to be just about the same so maybe I don't need to trim mine...? So what I'm thinking about doing is using a Combo U Joint for the 2500's driveshaft to accept the 1500 axle, does anyone know what size joint I would need. And as for the 1500, if I were to find a driveshaft from a 2500, same year as the 2500 axle, body style etc.., would that fit into my 01 1500, and work without having to do any cutom work to the driveshaft?

So from what i'm hearing the front will be a breeze, no mods there, the front driveshaft should just bolt up to the new axles.

 

So after doing some more measuring I do see where the 1500's driveshaft would be about an inch to 2 inches to short. so in order to make this work I would need to shorten the 1500's driveshaft, and lengthen the 2500's... If I where to get driveshafts from a long bed 1500 and a short bed 2500 would they bolt right up without having to modify the originals.

 

Its possible but it depends on where you get them from on weither or not it would be cheaper to get them modified. Being as you have the shafts just get the ends swapped from your shafts you have now and just pay to get them modified. Also like it was stated and I forgot to mention is cutting your spring perches off both axles and getting new ones for them both

 

ok well I'll check around to see if I can find a place that can modify the driveshafts, do you know where you can get aftermarket spring perches?

 

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/...ch_p_1485.html
I think d60 axle tube is 3" but you should measure it yourself anyways.
And you'll obviously want the 2.5" spring size if you're running 1500 springs.

 

Is it a 60 or a 70 cause if you had the 9.25 in it everything is the same even pinion nut works on a 70 lol ask me how I know