U Bolts from a Dakota rear end working on an 8 3/4. Has anyone used this or heard of this.

Oh for God's sake, Dave. Find another argument. As long as you torque the u bolts correctly, you have zero issues. Now if you're stupid on the other hand.........
"BUT I DO NOTE NOBODY ELSE DOES THIS" yeah.... that's what i said :) every other car and truck maker with leaf springs has no problem.......
If i was being stupid i would have let you get away with saying chrysler always used round U bolts, in my experience, which i guess will be less than yours, they most certainly didn't. I've been around enough rusted out wrecks from the US Australia and SA here in the UK to know this. dug through the piles of mopar shite at the swap meets left over from all the cars your US servicemen didn't take home.... been 1000s of you here since the 1940s and you all bring your cars, cant afford the fuel, or don't like driving on the wrong side of the road, park em till they rust and leave them behind.... I have learned that if its rusty with knackered threads and a ridiculous price tag proclaiming originality, it will be the flat waffly type

i might ramble on a bit but there is usually a reason based in truth or something that i genuinely believe based on experience :) my experience will be different from yours....

Dave