I can get a 2007 Durango with 5.7 (I have two more 5.7s) and 4x4 real cheap. Question I have a 2005 Dak with V6 4x4, can the engine be swapped easy by using all the componites off Durango? They look very similar with body.

Should be a pretty easy swap, but you will also need the Hemi wiring and computer (and maybe other stuff) out of the Hemi Durango. you will also want to install the Durango torsion bars, the V6 Dakota bars will be too light to support the 5.7 weight.

I have contemplated this several times but if I remember right the front diff bracket is different in those years durango and dakota and would need to be reconstructed because the 5.7 won't bolt to the daks existing bracket and the durango bracket wouldn't bolt to the daks diff. It ties the diff, trans, and engine all together. I'm not a fabricator so it looks like a huge pain to get it made and everything lined up right. I think there was gonna be some wiring to be done also because the front lights were wired in with one engine harness and seperate on the other or something like that, been a couple years since I was gonna try it but I remember there was something about the wiring I was gonna have to fart with...

Either the Durango, or the Dakota had extra mounting holes for the front axle the other didn't have. The one that had the extra holes would bolt in place of the one that didn't have the extra holes, but it didn't work going the other way, the needed extra space to add the bolt holes wasn't present. If he already has which ever axle his Dakota needs, his axle should be fine unless he plans on HD abuse of that front axle.

Wiring is always a challenge with modern stuff. Sometimes its a bigger challenge then it is other times. As the model years got past about 2008, it got worse.

So what you say is the engine bolts to the front axel? The Dakota has the 4x4 stuff under it now. I was told by my buddy at the trans shop (mopar guy) that the v6 trans would bolt up to a 5.7? The wiring-box would all come out of the Durango unless I get the v6 box programmed. NOT a race truck at all, just normal driving with more grunt.

I would have thought the easiest way is to swap everything. There's probably too many differences in wiring between the two to be using the V6 computer or anything else.

The Dakota 4x4 has independent front suspension. The front axle center bolts to brackets attached to both the frame and the motor. Then there are CVC axles & joints that extend out to the wheel bearing hubs that are attached to upper and lower control arms on ball joints. Torsion bars are connected to the lower A frames and to a bracket back near the trans mount.

Pics 1 & 2 are the best pics I have of the 4x4 Dakota front suspension, but neither show the motor mounts present. The driver side motor mount bracket bolts onto the axle pinion housing with 4 of its 6 bolts. These pictures are from a 92 frame, but the Dakota 4x4 from 1988-2007 use the same set up, The Durango's were slightly different.

The heaviest torsion bars available on a Dakota are for the 2,000lbs front end (a V8 HD version), but the lightest Durango torsion bars support 2500lbs. The books say they don't interchange, but other then the diameter, everything else measures the same and they all use the same adjusting bolt setup (I've measured both a 99 Durango and an 05 Durango bar in the truck). I need heavier torsion bars on my 49 Dodge pickup with a 5.2 (Dakota 4x4 with a 318 46RE trans), probably because the cab sits farther forward then the Dakota sheet metal did. I haven't had a chance to pick up a set of Durango bars to test fit yet, seems something more important keeps coming up.

Thanks for the info