Dodge Dakota rear ends....

The guys are right about the 8-1/4" being a decent rearend but if you can't find one of them another consideration is looking into a mid 90's Ford Ranger 8.8 rearend. My father in law bought a Rambler that someone installed a 95 Ranger rearend in and when I was putting brakes on it I measured it and was surprised to find it is exactly the same width (wheel to wheel) as a stock A-body rearend with the same driveshaft offset (1-3/8"). The only thing that needs done to install them is to cut off all the original brackets and weld on a set of spring perches and have a driveshaft made the correct length with the proper yoke for the 8.8 Ford. They have the larger a-body 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern so depending on what size your wheel bolt pattern is now may work or not but if it doesn't it's easy to cure by swapping wheels.