has 6 bolt wheels. Both are 15". I tore the rearend (7 1/4") out of
the '89 several years ago. The wrecking yards wanted $700. or more for
a complete rear end, and would not sell me just the gears and centers,
so, being the miser that I am I did some reaserch. I used to race
FOMOCO cars so I had a couple of rear ends lying around in the shop. I
noticed that the bolt patterns looked awfully close between the '89 Dak
and the FOMOCO car rear. I took a Dak wheel and it fit the FOMOCO car
rear. Bingo!! I measured the rear backing plate to backing plate and
there was just 1/4" difference. The spring hanger pads were several
inches off, so I took it to a local welder and had the pads moved to
fit the Dak. The FOMOCO yoke has a wider widtht for the U-joint, but
is 1" diameter. I used a u-joint that had different length crosses
that fit the combination, and I've been running a 9" FOMOCO rear for
approx 100,000miles now. I too dislike the new 6 bolt pattern. FOMOCO
rears are plentiful and cheap compared to CC, and I don't think even
the most dedicated MOPAR fans will argue the strength of the 9". It
has a record surpassing nearly all other rears. I am going to
investigate the 5 bolt spindles for my '95, also..
>>today on my way to work i saw an older dakota two wheel drive, musta
been
like an '87 or '88, but one thing that struck me was the number of lug
nuts
in the bolt pattern. it had a 5 lug pattern that appeared to be 4.5". is
this true?? i hate the 6 lug pattern on my dakota and would like to
switch
over to 5 lug to make it easier to find aftermarket rims and plus i
want to
switch over to an older mopar 8 3/4 rear end with the 4.5 inch bolt
pattern. anyone know if i can swap the front suspension from an older
model
into my '97??? jus wonderin, i know i prolly sound like a dork who is
asking "Why does my cupholder not hold a double gulp from 7-11?"<<
Azie
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