9.25s are pretty nice, a lot of dakota guys swap to the 9.25 from their 8.25's. I've thought about doing a 9.25 rear swap on my XJ, since i have a turdy-5.
i can vouch for the dodge front end. I bent mine but i have also crawled over a bunch of stuff with mine in my dodge. I bent it hauling butt down a trail and then the trail had a bad dip in it. I have crawled stuff with my dodge that the jeep cant do! If you do it man just do yourself a favor and truss it so you dont bend it!
What is the width difference for a Dakota/darango vs xj I see those 9.25s in the yards all the time. I'm also wondering if they ever had disk brakes. I know they aren't the same lug pattern but it's an option