Ricks Scout Axle Conversion

[Kman]

Rick how did you make out with your Scout Dana 44 axle conversion?Any pic's yet?

[rick]

Poison Spyder Customs Full Size Axle Kit

Sorry for the delay, I have a lot of irons in the fire right now. I don't have the writeup done, so I at least got some of the pics together.

Start with this:



Install front bracket:



Weld on rear brackets:



Mock it up and set the caster:



Weld on spring perches and paint:



Slap it all in the Jeep:



Note the flipped u-bolts. There are a couple pics in my gallery of where the passenger side u-bolt plate came from. The driver side is easier to find since the D44 tube size is found in a slew of full size Chevy and Dodge rear axle spring over configurations. I had to do some creative trimming and shaping on the driver side u-bolt plate to make it fit. I haven't wheeled it enough to know for sure if it will be ok or if it is going to perpetually stretch the ubolts out and require frequent tightening (most likely will with my luck).

If I had to do it again, I think I maybe would start with a full size Cheby axle and cut the driver side down and leave it a bit wider, maybe 60-61". This one is factory Scout width (58" WMS to WMS), so my tires rubbed the springs a bit until I adjusted the steering stops. That sucks. On the other hand, I can use factory width Scout axles which are available in alloy versions without making custom axles. My turning radius is actually better than it was with the D30 but only because I actually have some decent caster now compared to when I had the long shackles on the front. The other thing you may notice is that the passenger side spring perch is welded to the cast portion of the housing. This part sucked because this is where the original Scout spring perch was cast into the housing. I cut/ground/hacked the original perch off and welded mine on. This could possibly be avoided if you use a Chevy and narrow it, but I think the easiest thing to do is just put it on spring over and make your own perch. That's the way the axle was set up when I bought it, but I'm a traditionalist and I don't want to deal with the hassles of spring over.

I also learned that moving the axle forward is a good thing with this spring and PS customs kit combination. The RE front springs I used (YJ) have the center pin offset about 3/4" and I initially set it up with the offset to the rear to most closely match the original location. This turned out to be a bad move. The first time out I almost ripped my fenders off because the springs are so long (lots of arc) that when compressed they really push the axle back a long ways. I have since flipped the springs around to get that 3/4" back up front. We'll see how it works out once I get the axles back (in the shop for ARB's right now).

I'll let you know when I get the writeup done...