Hello, I have an 06 3500 dually rear end complete with disc brakes and new tires, it also has 4.10 gears, dont know what mine has. I was thinking of installing in my 96 ram 3500 dually. I would like to do the swap mainly because of the rear drum brakes would be converted to disc brakes and the new tires Anyways, has anyone done this? will I need to change anything to my brake system in order to hook up the rear disc brakes? What about the rear suspension? is the bolt pattern for the wheels the same? Any info would be great,
Bolt pattern is the same, but you need 17" wheels to clear the brakes. Spring perches are different. The 3rd gen springs sit farther out towards the wheel, so you will have to cut them off and weld on new ones in the correct location. As for the brakes, I am sure the hydraulics can be adapted pretty easily. Drive line may need work, I am trying to remember the flange for the 96. ALso, the housings may have different lengths, so if the slip joint won't take it up you are looking at a custom driveshaft. 4.10 gears with a 12v will suck. Too bad you don't have 3.73s. Is this 2wd or 4wd?
... Wow, I thought it would be simple. Anyways, my truck is 2wd. Do you know what gear I should have back there? or what would be a better one? I am now just thinking would would I need to do to install the rear disc brakes on my rear end. I think I rather leave it alone. Dont really like cutting stuff up and rewelding things, it just sounds like trouble down the road. Thanks for the great infowaytogo
You'd be better off trying to trade a wrecking yard your 3rd gen rear end for a 2001-2002 2nd gen axle with disks. On another note, I don't think the brake swap is as easy as one might think just hooking up lines. I don't know with the Dodges, but on the 70's-80's GM trucks, it can be a pain trying to get the proportioning right for rear disks. Granted, early GM stuff never had rear disks so it's a tuning game of trying to find parts that will work. With the Dodges, since late 2nd gens have disks, you might be able to get away with just changing the prop. valve to a 2002 valve. But, there is a good chance the master cylinder is also different due to the reservoir size being likely different with Disks vs. drums.
