if your going to wheel it scrap that Dana 44 front for a Dana 44 from an early 80s dodge or a Dana 60!
That dodge in the pic had 130,000 miles when I sold it.

 

Had one of those.........Hated it with a passion

I have a 85 halfton long bed now, 360 727trans 4.10's locked front and rear. Its been a decent truck, granted its just a beat around truck.

 

As someone who has owned and driven both.
A 98 f150 is a much more refined pickup then the 98 dodge.
Your dodge has a Dana 44 front axle with coil springs as I'm sure you know and they ride and handle like a lumbar wagon! Lol
That's why dodge went to independent suspension with torsion bars in the 2002 ram 1500s...the same design as the f150 from 97-03!

 

i actually like the front end on it, the only thing i dont like, is it seems to have very little travel compared to my 150/250. its not to extremely hard to hit the bump stops on the front, also it dont take much at all to get the rear end squatting pretty good.

other then that, from a reliability stand point, we haven't had any of the problems people have complained about, engine has the power that it should, transmission shifts fine, no breaking plastic parts on the inside, 4x4 works great. mind you iv never been extremely rough on my trucks, i try to make them last.

EDIT: but yes, iv never owned a same year f150/1500, so its a little harder to compare.

 

Ya and that's the biggest variable in all this talk.
It depends so much on how you use your trucks!
Being that its your girls truck im guessing it lives a pretty pampered life. And because I see how you maintain your fords I assume you do the same to your dodge.
If you work your trucks hard, in my experience fords can really take a beating!

 

Oh and since this thread is all over the place and I'm talking to you anyway cam...check out this dually I might buy!
460 5 speed could be a good truck to fix up and haul my equipment trailer.
I can pick it up for 1500 bucks

 

the dodge use to be my "work truck" till i got the 250, and yea i dont overload them very often if at all lol. now its just her daily driver till hunting season, then she uses that up in the woods.
that will be a fun truck, let me know what you do to the engine because im looking for some more hp out of mine, the torque is good enough for what i pull, just want something a little faster. what yr is it? and im assuming it has 4.10 gears.

even if it ran like crap id pick that up for $1500 just for the parts lol.

 

It's a 94. And it runs good I guess. Ya 4.10s. I'm going to take a look this weekend. Ill let ya know!

 

you need to figure out how to do a OBDII swap on these 460s lol, iv heard story's that a 302 ECU will work, but i dont think it will.

 

Ya I'm not sure! I heard a cam can wake these 460s up like crazy!