so im doing some research and taking measurements from different gen ram 1500's and chevy 1500's to see if i cant get rid of the weak front end that our dak has for something actually worthy some heavy duty. if all goes well ill get something started before i ship out, ill keep ya'll posted on this thread as to what i find. if all goes well may be able to do a lift on it too. wish me luck

any info and specs anyone has will help send them to me via PM or post on here

 

I will save you time. It cannot be done with out lots of modification. And the 1500 has the a lot of the same front end issues.

 

ditto^ and yep, it is pretty much just as bumpy as our ride. Struts/stabilizer links etc. are all junk

 

Don't tell the Ram guys that, they all say how the Dakotas have a ton of front end issues like they have almost none...

 

Frankly if you are willing to put that much effort into it you may as well do an SAS.

 

or just buy another truck....

we're both in Winston Salem, but I never see your truck....

 

I've thought the same thing. I am always in the lewisville/clemmons area.

 

I was going to go the Ram 1500 way in order to get oil pan clearance on my Cummins.
In the end I was able to just drop the diff a couple of inches.
I bought the parts and it looks simple OTHER than the lower control arm mounting point.
You would have to make a drop cross member.
I did not put much effort into figuring it out once I knew I did not need to.
I remember that the steering tie-rod would fit and just needed to be rotated so it came in from the top instead of the bottom like the Dakotas.
You would need the 1500 shocks but probably a custom spring as the 1500's are too large in Dia.
The Dakota spindles bolt into the 1500 uprights as do our calipers but I think you need the 1500 rotors.
This is just all off the top of my head and I have never actually done the conversion so no flames please.
For sure if your after a reliable off roading front end the SAS is the way to go.