So I spent hours searching never really found a clear answer. There's been much talk about using Ram CV axles on 3rd gen 4x4 dakotas when installing leveling kit. I am going to replace my entire front differential assembly as the shaft on driver side differential snapped inside the CV axle and on the passenger side the front differential assembly mount has also broken(Pics). So that diff is no longer any good. I have ordered the replacement front differential assembly. I was wondering if I should buy Ram CV axles instead of Dakota CV's. I will also be replacing both upper control arms, thinking of going with Moog CK series any Intel or info will be much appreciated.
So my question is can I just use Dodge Ram CV axles alone with my Dakota OEM assembly for better articulation & no bind when offroad in 4×4?




..05 DAKOTA ST CREW CAB 4.7L 4X4
Supreme Suspensions leveling kit

Leveling kit completely installed with Rancho Shocks and struts & 265/75/16 A/T's

Supreme suspensions full leveling kit. 2 inch front 1 inch rear with pinion angle shims

Passenger side front differential mount bracket

Driver side differential shaft snapped

 

Dakota's don't do lift well. You need to custom drop the transfercase. There was a guy selling a kit but dunno if it's still available. -1 for not reading forums first

also I would pull them rancho struts, I had problems with them and my truck not sitting right on level ground. Hard to explain but I'll give it a try. The struts did not have the right geometry and were binding, something with the springs and shock mounts. The lower control arm sat usually angled downward and the strut rod itself was bowed out. Almost as if the suspension was at full travel, and could not compress under the trucks own weight. This was causing cv axle to bind up as well. Just for the record I did torque the control arms after the truck was under it's own weight. I swapped out the struts for some monroe quick struts which gave a natural lift for the front end.

I'm not sure why Rancho doesn't sell the spring for their manufactured strut. I asked them several times but they have not replied, that was over a year ago.

 

Right on, thanks for the info. I did read up on our trucks not lifting well, but wanted to go for it anyway. Just did not realize that the passenger side diff mount was broken when I bought the truck. So i found out when I went to install the lift kit. I knew i would eventually change out the diff assembly so I installed it any way. This of course caused the driver-side axle to carry extra load. I happened to go over a good size dip and caught some air so when the axles went full droop it snapped the axle shaft on the driver side. So now that the entire front end assembly will be out I plan on installing my supreme suspensions diff drop kit along with the other new parts. We'll see how it goes this time around.

 

Have you found any lifts for our trucks? I bought it with a 3” leveling kit and man… it blows parts out fast… but the first thing I did when I bought the truck was get 33’s… they rubbed so bad so I bought spacers… I bought a couple different sizes because with the 2 “ they rubbed so I went with the 3… still rubbed… but with enough cutting the tires only rub sometimes now… so I haven’t lowered it yet… ima buy smaller tires next time and lower it to 2”

 

There are no "lift kits" for these trucks. Coil spring spacers and rear lift blocks or helper springs and a body lift. Going over 2.5" with a spacer without a diff drop will eventually destroy front end parts, as you are seeing. Unfortunately as stated in this thread, these trucks are not designed to be lifted.