Narrowing dana 44???

Hey there, I'm get ready to shorten front/rear dana 44 out of a scout, I have a couple questions!!!
I know on the scout front I'll have to rotate front knuckles (Cs) to deal with caster angles! My question is once cut down to stock cj track width trying to line it up for front yoke for drive shaft does not leave much length on the passenger axle tube... the c would be almost re-welded to the front cast pumpkin??? Any thoughts???
The rear scout 44 I have only one question, once cut down would I center the rear pumpkin yoke between the new track measurement of 50 inchs, as the dana 20 is basically centered between the frame rails!! I would like to run the new drive shaft in a straight line, only dealing with two rotating planes!!

Thanks alot
J

 

Why do you want to narrow a front axle? The extra 5 inch widn't give you more stability on the trail. I have uncut front and rear dana 44 and i like them. i have a 360/t18/dana20 combo and the rear drive shaft line-up exactly like the axle you have at the moment. For the front, my uncut scout axle, the drive-shaft from t-case to front yoke is perflectly strait. Cutting 5 inch on the front axle you will lose that perfect line up.

If you do want to cut it to narrow just do the front. You only need to cut down the driver side tube (the long tube) about 5 inch. For axle find yourself a early broncos axle shaft, they are 5 inch shorter than the scout one. For the rear you're suppose to have a dana 44 on you're jeep keep it. This way you will have a 53" wms like the dana 30 narrow.

For the Cs i grind off the weld until i can see the crack between tube and Cs and with a hammer i was able to take them out or move them. To allign i bring the jeep to a align center and ask them to set caster for me (Cs unwelded) and they welded them for me. The ride perfect on the street.


I know picture worth a thousand word so i put you the link to my projet, go to page 3 you'll see the unweld knuckle. Take a look all over the project, i have a lot of work involve in swapping the axle.

page 7 you have a picture of the front drive-shaft line-up

If you need more information i'll be glad to help.



http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?92331-Homemade-coil-spring-conversion

 

Thanks for feedback!!! Keeping jeep as stock looking as possible, all good mechincal under a faded out stock 1968 paint job with stock 16rims!! I measured stock 27/and offset44 from the flat of the front hub where wheel stud come out and I get 50 inches!!!! Rear with no drums on, the offset 44 axle i measured flange to flange once again 50inch.!! So scout axles will need to be lobed down some, with re-splinned shafts!!!

 

Hum, why just not find a rear dana 44 from a cj5 (72-75) and narrowing only a front scout dana 44 using a early broncos long inner shaft?
Cj5 (1972-1975) have about 53 inch wms to wms. You get an extra 3 inch in widnt.


P.S. Wms mean: Wheel mounting surface, in case that you don't know. :stout:

 

That seems like a lot of work for not much benefit. I just swapped a 44 and a 30 from 1974 CJ-5 into my M38a1. Stupid easy. I'll be running 33s or 35s with a T18 and a SBC. All that cutting and narrowing just isn't needed. I know you probably got the scout 44s cheap, but maybe you can trade them or something...

 

Thanks guys!! Yes it would be easier to use 1972-75 cj axle, only problem is the gluebags around here think these jeeps or axles are coated with gold and worth millions of dollars!! Sooo that leaves me with a $100 set of scout axles not the best canidate but swapable!! So where is everyone get the WMS of 53"??? I have measured twice front hub wheel mating surface to hub wheel mating surface I get 50"!!! Same as the back!!! Blue manual says something about tread of 48 7/16! Alloy axles shafts sell replacement shafts for 72-75 and the length is 24.75"x 2==== just shy of 50inch. Thanks warlock even the stock frontdrive shaft runs a bit of and angle towards the 27s pinion yoke. Thanks alot everyone

 

Narrow track axle for cj 72-75 are 53" wms did mesure them last year while i was swapping the scout axle. For 100$ a set of scout axle they will need to be rebuilt with new bearing/seal/brake etc. Cutting them down to fit Narrow shaft will cost lot's of money for respline shaft. For a 100$ axle you are about to spent 700-1000$ to get them under the jeep.

I know you want to keep the jeep Oem but putting scout axle uncut is the best thing to do. You only need to outboard the front spring. Doing that will bring more positive upgrade to you're jeep than cutting them. Having a larger axle (58" wms) it will improve stability on the road. Also outboarding front spring will increase the stability too. Jeep Cj's from 1972 to 1986 use 2 type of axle. Just the widnt change. Narrow track axle has 53" wms (72-79???) and wide track (1980-86) has 58" wms just like scout axle you're planning to use.

in both case you will need to change the caster on the scout axle.

 

you are forgetting the spider gears at about 1 inch plus a little space for the other two and pin hence 53 inches total wheel flange to wheel flange,,,,

 

You might want to check those dimensions. Widetrack Jeep are narrower than Scout 2.



Sent from my iPhone

 

Cutting the short side tube is defenetely a bad idea...there is about 2-3 inch of tube between the pumpking and the knukkle. He only need to cut the long side of the tube (5") to get to the narrow track dimension.
I've done the mod for one af my friend and we end up using a long inner axle shaft from a early broncos. I found the lenght of axle shaft here http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gene...-axle-shaft-lengths-all-spicer-1967-02-a.html

Scout II long inner shaft: 32.91"

Ford early bronco long inner shaft: 27.94"
Difference is 4.97"

but with uncut scout axle the Tire don't stick too much out ouside the fender, i have 6 inch flare and tire are completly cover by the flare.

My mistake you're right here's the right info
Model/Version Spring Pads Wheel to Wheel Years
Dana 30/CJ Narrow Track 53" '72-'81
Dana 30/CJ Wide Track 56" '82-'86
Dana 44 Scout II 58" Wms

 

Thanks for all replies!!! Im going for completely stock looking exterior, so need to keep the wheel under the fenders!!! Once re fabbed i dont mind throwing a bit of money at scout axles to make them functional, crappy gear ratio though something like 3.55, how will they jive with the sm420/20 combo Im swaping in!! Whats the cost for re splining axle shaft??

 

I feel for you, I just did this same thing for my C101 last summer. I took a Ford HP44 and cut it down from 65" to 53" to keep my 33/10.50 tires under the fenders without flares. I had my inner axles re-splined by Moser (Website). I measured once I had the axle the width I wanted, and put them in a box and shipped them out to Moser, once they received them they called me, verified lengths, asked for a cc number and a couple days later they were on their way back to me. Very easy and I would recommend them. If you can use a factory length axle that is better I think, makes replacements easier to find. Due to where I had to place my diff with the 5.3 and minimal lift I couldn't match up with any factory axles.

I won't lie, it is a lot of work to grind off the inner C and shorten and rebuild the axle. I recommend you grind off the inner Cs, shorten to the width you want, then put the housing under the Jeep. Set your spring pads so you have the desired pinion angle and weld them in. Then you can warm the Cs in the BBQ and install them and set caster to what you want. I didn't weld my spring perches in well before I started setting my caster with the 10 lb sledge and I did a lot of back and forth to get the pinion angle and castor correct.

Here is a picture of what a 53" axle with 33/10.50 tires on the factory steel 15's looks like, any wider and they would hang out the fenders, as it is they are just about perfectly even.



There are good times to have a wide track width and others to have a narrow one, hope you have fun with the narrowing project.

 

Moser's prices seem to be great.

 

Awesome flexiheep!!! The look you achived on your c101 is exactly what Im going for but on cj5 that hasnt been repainted, your BFGs are a close match to what Im going to use.... really nice work man!!!! So if its a ford 44 Hp .... does that mean the drops on the driver side???? What t case a you using???

 

I wanted a restomod sleeper for the Jeepster, to that end the body is stock and the interior is stock except for the seats... Only outside changes were the about 3" lift and the taller but skinny BFG tires. Inside it is a 5.3 Chevy with an AX15 and 231 Tcase from a Cherokee. Axles are a flanged 72 CJ 44 rear and a HP 44 ford front with 4.10 gears and a front Elocker. Suspension in the front is based on Waggy 44044 front springs and rear is the Jeepster springs over the axle with the frame mounts moved in and up the frame to lower the lift after the spring over and make room for the 10.50 tires between the fender and spring.

FWIW I decided on 53" since that was a factory width that was offered before the rubber flares were standard I think and it gave me a little more steering angle before the tires hit the springs.

Good luck with the work on yours, it was fun to hide all my upgrades on what looks like a just slightly modded old Jeep.

 

When I did my chevy front 44 I cut it down to 58" wide width. I had currie cut and respline my shafts, I believe they were charging $70 a shaft then, that was over 10ys ago. I'd bet its more like $100 today. Sounds like you might have to cut both sides to get the pumpkin where you want it.

Good luck!

Kevo

 

If he goes to 53" wms with scout axle he only need to cut the long side about 5". From there a early broncos long shaft work perfectly.