I bought a used set of stock aluminum wheels from a guy who said they were off his 2nd gen 2500. I went to put them on and they wont go on because they hit the drum. His truck had a gas engine. So I figured maybe dodge put larger brake drums on the diesels . So then I check part numbers online at rock auto, and it shows the same drums for every engine (13"). Then I check the part numbers for brake shoes and there are 13" x 2-1/2" wide and 12-1/8" x 3-1/2" shoes, indicating that there are two different size drums. The rock auto catalog may be wrong, but I just want to figure this out.
Did gas and diesels use different size rear drums?
Were aluminum wheels an available option in 1997?
Did Dodge make two different size wheels to match the different size drums?
Is this an wheel offset issue or drum size problem?

 

I think I may have figured it out. RockAuto shows only the 12.125" drums for model years 2001-2002 with all engines. The wheels I got must have come from one of those years. The question still remains:
Did dodge offer aluminum wheels for years 1994-2000?

 

The aluminum wheels didn't start until the switch to the smaller OD (unfinned) drums. Not sure if that's 00 or 01. The axles are a little bit wider too. They are known to be a weak wheel.

This topic has come up before. You can run the truck on jack stands and use an angle grinder on the lip/fins that interfere with the wheel.

Edit: the 17" wheels for 03+ clear fine.