01 2500 5.9 v8. The pinion has a bunch of play, clunking badly. According to it's vin it has rear disc brakes. It has drums. Can disc rears be swapped to drum with the correct backing plates and hardware? What is the date range for swaps? Do you adjust for a different ratio?
Large rear ends are expensive to rebuild, hence a swap. Axles nearby seem to fetch $250.00

 

I'm assuming that you have the disc brake Dana 60 in the rear. If I were you, I'd opt to have it repaired if you can find a rear axle person in your area that does side work, as the disc brake Dana 60 may be a bit harder to find given it's short run in 2nd gen trucks. Disc brake Dana 60 option rears started with Dodge Ram 2500 trucks around July 2000. The bearing kit for that rear is pretty reasonable if you pick it up on eBay. I purchased one here locally off Craigslist several years ago and swapped out the drum brake Dana 60 rear I had in the truck originally. I also upgraded the gearing in the front and rear from 3.55 to 4.10 by purchasing used gears (hard to hurt Dana 60 gears) and new bearing kits off eBay and had a local differential guy set everything up. If you are bent out a rear swap, you can also check car-part.com to see if any Mom & Pop salvage yard near you might have one for sale.

After re-reading your thread, it sounds like you may have a drum brake Dana 60. I believe the disc brake rear housing has the disc brake mounting setup welded to the rear housing tubes, so I don't believe it's an easy swap of backing plates to go from drum to disc.

 

If I wasn't clear the truck has rear drum brakes. By vin it was supposed to have disc brakes. I'm afraid the pinion slop may have damaged the ring gear, and if so filled the case with metal.I can go with second gen. I got this from the forum.
1994-1995 LD 2500: Chrysler 9.25 1994-2002 HD 2500 5.9L gas V8: Dana 60 1994-2002 HD 2500 V10/diesel auto: Dana 70 1994-2002 HD 2500 V10/diesel manual: Dana 80 1994-2002 3500: Dana 80
I may have found a 70.
Are drums and backing plates swapable between 60 and seventy series axles?

 

If you have a 5.9 magnum engine, you should have a Dana 60. If I were you, I'd remove the inspection cover and see what's going on in the rear. I'd suspect that the ring and pinion are likely fine, as Dana 60 ring and pinions are pretty stout. When the pinion gets sloppy, it typically smacks into the carrier and may leave some pinion teeth marks on it.