One thing for certain, the front disc brakes on the 97 to 2002 Dakota, in a word, suck. Crap really, poor feel, dragging/stuck calipers, pad wear/rotor heat/ warpping. I have read the front disc brakes from the 2003 Durango are much improved in all aspects and the parts can be directly mounted to the 97 to 2002 Dakota. So when I prep my 2001 Dakota chassis to go under my 56 Dodge pickup I'll replace the brake system on the front with the 2003 Durango parts. Anyone out there have done this brake upgrade? Anyone have a complete part list needed?
I've read the parts needed are: 2003 Durango rotors-hubs/spindles/calipers/brake pads. Anything else to plan for when I do the upgrade?
I did this swap on my 99. All you need from the donor is the spindles. If the donor parts are good go with those.
03 Dakota use the same setup.
The 03 tie rod ends are slightly different, so if you use the 97-02 parts the toe will be off, but it's easily fixed at alignment time.
It definitely improves braking. BTW the 03 rotors are 11.75" dia.
I just remembered the 03 setup ditches the screw in slider pins. Horrible idea.
