project DD

Figured I would start out with atleast a little tech!
 
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 Reg Cab shorty 5.9 liter V8.
 
Currently sitting on 35's.  I swapped in some 2500 V10 coils to lift the front some.  Otherwise totally stock.
 
The plan:
 
Stay as close to OEM as possible.
Cut the fenders and avoid a big lift.
 
I went the easy route for this swap.  I got a Dana 60 Front and Dana 70 rear from a 2500.  I'm no good with axle work, so I got them regeared to 4.88s and left them open.  It would be great to have lockers, but honestly I hate DDing with them.  Plus, cost was a big issue. I looked in to the "lunch box" lockers, but decided they may not be the best option due to large tires and a torque-y V8.  Once Im not DDing, it will be locked up front and rear.
 
I'm starting on Monday and hope to have the axles in ASAP.  I will have to do some driveshaft work to get it done, so I will probably be down for a little bit getting that all sorted out.
 
sorry for the huge pic, its all i have atm.
 

 
I use this thing and body damage is just part of the game.

Welcome! Thumbs up on the avatar.  Come on out to Bridgeport tomorrow or keep an eye on the web site for club meetings.

bleh, I would love to have made it, but Im stuck working weekends until the new year.
 
 

As far as the project...
 
I got nothing done!  School is gearing up for finals and that has been kicking my butt.  I'm hoping to give it another go on Monday and get some progress underway.

well school demanded much more attention that i planned.  Between that and work I kinda disappeared for a while.  I started the swap yesterday.
 


Got the 60 in the front.  I ran into a couple of problems:
 
Bolt that mounts the brake line to the caliper doesn't work.
       the dana 44 from my 01' has a fine thread bolt and is smaller than the 98' dana60.  It has a coarse thread and is much larger.  I'm not sure on the solution, I can drill out the mount on the brake line, but I'm not sure how safe that will be.  Or, I can try and find brake lines for a 98'.
 
Sway bar endlinks dont have the same mounting style. 
 
needs an alignment and dshaft work.
 
It was pretty straight forward, except a couple things threw me for a loop.  The holes to mount the UCA were significantly smaller on the Dana 60 than the d44 (weird).  The bolts on the axle end of the LCA were much larger than on the D44 than the 60 (weird again) and the steering stabilizer has me confused as hell. 
 
but, a buncha grinding and filing and everything went in ok. 
 
Gonna start on the rear tomorrow. 
 
Dan

Nice to see you were out and taking full advantage of this BEAUTIFUL weather we have this week so far

 
 

left to do:
 
front: Brakelines, sway bar end links, dshaft
 
Rear: Brakelines, Ebrake, Dshaft
 
I will probably rebuild the brakes front and rear also.  I need to get my 35s swapped onto these wheels.  Otherwise, should be back on the road next week or the week after depending on how long the shafts take.
 
Anybody got any leads on cheap XML's?

  govliquidation.com i think

looks awesome i would like to know how it goes maybe even get you to give me a hand with my swap. thank god there is finally anouther 2nd gen dodge guy on here now.

Well, I'm still waiting to get my Dshafts back and put in, but otherwise it was pretty straight forward.
 
IMO every issue i ran into can be avoided if you use the correct axles.  Somewhere between 97 and 98 the axles changed.  I say somewhere because I have seen 97's that are the "newer" style and seen 98's that are the "older" style.....Chrysler....
 
 

a guy off pavement ****s told me he used 3/4 ton driveshafts with no modifications and used jk sway bar links for the front sway bar.  the np231 and 241 have same output shaft from what i hear. i had a one ton drive shaft off a long bed and it slid right onto my output shaft from my trashed 231 but that was a 2wd shaft. idk but i will be doing mine soon after i blow my motor at megarun. I went all out and grabbed the d80 figured if the pumpkin gets hung on something i wil just floor it and hope they are as strong as they say. lol

As far as Dshafts, The 3/4 ton axles (D60, D70 or D80) are all larger than the 9.25 rear and D44 front on the 1500.  Because of that, you have to shorten the dshafts.  They may "fit" but when the suspension cycles it will destroy your xfer case.

If you have the 3/4 shafts you can just shorten the rear and it will work.  On the front, it will need to be shortened.

I decided to re use my half ton shafts.  I have both shortened two inches and a 1410 yoke put on the rear (instead of the SYE that was factory).

A good spotter should be able to keep your Diffs out of the way! Although a good spotter isnt always on hand.
 
Edit:
 
As far as the sway bars...
 
The away bar mount changed when the axles changed.  On my 01' 1500, the sway bar links are shaped like an "L", where as the mounts on the 97' Dana60 are more of an "l" shape.  Also, I think you have to mount your sway bar upside down to get it to mount "over" the axle.
 
But, like i said in a previous post, all the probs i had can be eliminated by using the same year or style axles that came out of the truck.  Chances are if you use axles from a 99+ you will have to deal with the changes, but if you stick with the earlier years, it should bolt right in.
 
If I hadnt already rebuilt and geared the axles...I would be looking for 2001 axles to swap.

huh nevermind

Well after a long hiatus here is my update.  Between school and work I was pretty swamped for a while there.  I did the swap in about ten hours split over two days.  I ran into issues waiting for parts (brakelines on back order), so the truck sat for a couple weeks before it was driveable.  Either way, its back on the road.  Needs some TLC otherwise swap went fine.
 

Looks like a whole new truck with that stance and a wheel change, good job!

Looks great I love it

Excellent.  I love following peoples progress.  Keep it coming.