I think that
87-91 are the 5 lug and 92-96 are 6 lug but the same rear end, you would have to swap out the center axels to the 5 lug to get them from 6 to 5 lugs. I think that Cherokee are the same rear end. I've got a 1990 Cherokee but I can't get under it to measure it right now.
From another web site they say...."the dakota rear end is roughly 59+ inches wide WMS to WMS (wheel mounting section)...track width is 60.8
all 8.25 and 9.25 mopar B-body rearends are exactly 1/2inch shorter than the dakota and are pretty much direct bolt inalso 71-74 B-body 8.75 rear is the same WMS-to-WMS as to 2 b-body diff's above...not to mention the b body rear has more available parts than the dakota, and came in a 5 lug"
Somebody else measured their rear end in their truck at ".. 43" center pin to center pin"
Another forum some body states.....
"I used to have a 90 Dakota. Truck blew the 7-1/4 in it (actually blew the carrier apart, when a spider gear busted a tooth and it wedged in the rest of the "good" teeth)
once I sold it off to my brother in law, I found an 8-1/4 in the yard but no 7-1/4s. at that yard the only 87-90 they had that still had a rear end in it, was a wercked '90. so I bought it. Once I installed it, right away noticed the truck handled "weird"; noticed that one tire was "kicked out" at the front edge. Come to find out the tubes were bent (remember this was out of a wreck) the rear tires had over 2" of toe OUT ; that's how I verified the housing was bent. I wound up at another yard, where all they had were '91+ Dakotas (yeah 6 lug) I bought an 8-1/4 from a 94 from anotehr yard,, and put the 5 lug axles out of the bent one into the 6-lug housing. Matched perfectly except for that difference in lug-count. I measured the axles while all were out, and they were the same length. Another difference was the U joint yoke. the yoke on the 94 was meant for a larger U joint than the 90; so I swapped yokes and everything was good. I had talked to the guy at Junkyard#1 about it, since he didn't have another Dakota in the yard to sell me the rear end from, told him that I would have no choice but to find and buy a rear end from another yard. He said it would be OK, using parts and pieces to "build one out of 2" to get the truck back going again. as long as I brought all the remnants from both rears back to him and he gave me my $$ back. To sum it all up, that tells me there is alot more interchange among these trucks than the Hollander book will admit. Another rear end that is plentiful around here and available in an 8-1/4 would be a "square body" Cherokee. 5 lug, 4-1/2 pattern, same brake components as a Dakota. (shoes, hardware cylinders etc) and I'm betting that the overall length would be damn close to the same. (just a suggestion) I had a similar "build a rear end" on a newer Dak; some reason they show 97-99 and '00-04 being different. Yeah they are. the yoke on 2000+ is a flat flange like you see on a Ford. the 97-99 is a conventional style. I called the dealer my buddy manages the parts counter at and he checked P/N's, for individual parts; Housings? Same PN, 97-04 Axles? Same. Ring n pinions, carriers, backing plates. Ditto. ONLY difference was the yoke. I could not find an 00-04 rear end but plenty of 97-99s; so I bought one from a 98, swapped yokes another truck back on the road."
I hope some of that is helpful.
Eric
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