A 2 wheel drive Dakota front clip will work a lot better then a full size Dodge truck frame would. You will want to splice the Dakota frame to your existing frame just behind the transmission cross member, where the Dakota frame will slide right inside your existing frame. The Dakota frame steps up 6" behind the cab, your original frame is nearly flat behind the cab, swapping the whole Dakota frame will create issues for your box and its floor. The 88-90 Dakota has a 5 on 4 1/2" bolt pattern. The 91-96 Dakota has the 6 bolt wheels, but they are easily changed by swapping the rotors to the older 5 lug rotors. The 97- 20 something used a different frame with 6 lug wheels, changing to the 5 lug wheels is a major project. The frame after the 97- 20something frame was a different style frame and a suspension change, which will make it a completely different project. Gene