will an 8 1/4 3:55 geared rearend from a 96 dodge dakota fit right into my 77 volare?

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'77 Volare..not much to look at but has it where it counts!

I bet you can make it fit but it will not be a "bolt-in" job.

Take some measurments of the track width and spring "purch" (pad) locations, many trucks have the spring pads mounted on the tops of the axle tubes for added height, most cars have the pads welded to the bottom of the housing tubes. If this is the case, new pads will have to be welded on, you can buy them through Summit.
DD

The '96 axle would also be 6 lugs. The axles also have 29 splines as opposed to 27 splines for the older A-body axles. So I don't thing you can change back to the old 5 lug axles.