I'm thinking about swapping out the rear end on the g/f's 01' 2500, the bed was mashed on it by the previous owner & the body shop done a poor job of getting the paint matched back, & I figure if we're gonna paint the bed anyway (it seems to be a little rusty, came off a 94' ) I have a prefectly good dually bed & tailgate from my old 97' that I swapped a flatbed onto, was thinking of changing out rear axles & doing the spacers up front & then pulling the factory aluminum wheels & slapping some dually wheels on & having the bed repainted to match??? I drive the truck alot for work (she's prolly gonna get the 07' to drive to keep miles off of it & keep it on the hardtop!!) & really miss having a dually anyway, so I figured this would kinda kill 2 birds with one stone?? do you guys think I may have any luck finding someone w/a 3500 wanting to convert to a srw???? if so I'd be willing to swap out whatever needs to be changed, the truck has a 4:10 LS rear axle w/disk brakes, if I can't find anyone to swap where should I start looking for an axle??? Ebay??? thanks in advance, Dusty

 

You shouldnt have to swop axles, I dont think, the dodge dually wheel's for the rear should just bolt up to the existing axle for the front I dont know, thought about doin the same thing on my truck but my insurance wouldnt let me.

 

ya think so?? I was thinking that the dually wheels on the rear would cause the tires to rub the springs??? I know it won't work on a Ford, but wasn't sure about the Dodge??? I may try it & see, thanks, Dusty

 

I wish my 3500 was here and I'd take a look for ya, but the only thing I can run out in the yard and look at now is the 2500 and that won't help much.

I would think that everything would just bolt right up... The dually fenders seem to just be bolted on somehow, but I've never thought of taking them off so I'm not sure.

I think you may be right about the tires rubbing the springs though. I'm not sure about this, but I think on a dually the front wheels put the weight of the truck directly over the tire, hence why the have the "cone" look to them. On a 2500 I think the weight is a little off to one side. Someone correct me if I am wrong though.

Sorry I can't be of much help, but good luck.

 

4wds have a bolt on spacer up front, so that part is easy. The rear ends are different between SRW and DRW. In fact, the DRW C&C and pickup rearends are different as well. Demon and I tried putting my old steelies on his 2500, and it was a no-go. Drums interfere with the rim and won't even seat. A disc brake rear might be different, but I have my doubts. The DRW and SRW are also different widths. I'd say try and pick up a pickup DRW rear end and go that way. Or you could run spacers on the rear, but I like the look of a hub sticking out of the center of the wheels.

 

I have a '99 2500 and test drove a 3500 to test this very same idea and the wheels interfere with the drum brakes on the 2500. They will clear the springs by 1.5" but you would have to trim a portion of the bed for wheel clearance IF you could clear the brakes. I do not have rear disks so I cannot tell if the dually wheels clear.

There is a thread about using spacers to make this clearance work and I plan on doing this to my 2500. $400 for the pair of rear STEEL spacers. Since you already have a dually bed the only other expense is the wheels and tires.

Craig