My Jeep cost a bit less than 1K per axle, parts and labor.


If you have the time and the right tools, its doable, especially following info off of the interweb. But its not for me.

 

Is it possible for that lower ball joint bracket to be bent back in place

 

Someone that knew what they were doing could conceivably heat it, and bend it back.. Would it ever be "Right" again though? That's a very good question.

If your truck is NOT an offroad edition, front axle out of any half-ton (dodge) truck, 94-01, will bolt right up, and is highly likely to already have the same gears that you do, so, no gear swapping needed. If not, well, you already have the parts, you would only need to pay labor to have them swapped. (and I would just bring them the entire carrier, complete with bearings, and the pinion gear, and call it a day.) So, probably 500 bucks or so to have it installed, possibly less, depending on what you have them do.

If yours IS an offroad edition, then you would have 4.10 gears, and some additional bracing on the axle..... You *could* just toss the 'normal' d44 under there, and swap the gears, and it would work just fine, you just wouldn't have the added strength that was there from the factory. If you don't do hard off-roading regularly, not really a loss. (but, would devalue the truck somewhat, if the potential buyer actually had an idea of what he was looking at......)

If there is a 4x4 shop anywhere within spitting (towing?) distance, might wanna have a chat with them, and see what they have to say about repairing your current axle. They may even know where to find a replacement for a reasonable cost......

Or, if you were feeling really froggy..... (and wanted to spend some more coin....) Do the D60 front and rear.