I have a 97 1500 sport 4x4 im going to swap out the front axle and was wondering if i had to take it out of the same truck. If i took a bigger axle like a dana 60 or an axle with different gears would that affect driving in 2wd because its always turning?

 

There are some minor differences from year to year, but, pretty much most of them are a direct bolt in. D60's us different size u-joints though, along with some other minor fastener size differences... (cam bolts?) but, that's pretty much bolt-in as well.

Different gears front and rear only becomes an issue when you engage 4x4, and the axles are locked together. At that point, if you have different ratios, one of two things happens: The truck simply stops/won't move, or, things go BOOM!! and you stop moving. In 2wd, it just doesn't matter.