Nice looking rig! What do you mean cut & Clock the knuckles? I am trying to do plenty of research before I even try to attempt this project. Did you use the same springs or did you go with something different?
What year scout should I be looking at? Is there any other vehicles that have
Dana 44 's? I was under my toyota Sequoia the other day and noticed that it has a removable third member like the ford 9" any body know anything about these axles
Scout II Axle-Swap Sources
Question: In response to "Scout Dana Swap for
CJ7 ," (Mar. '08), here are some links and info that may prove helpful.
Several companies offer reverse shackle kits that allow for full-width Scout, GM, fullsize Jeep, and Dodge axles to be installed under later CJs. A few are Poison Spyder Customs (
Poison Spyder Customs: Home), Expert Off Road (
Expert Offroad Jeep Parts, Truck Parts and Accessories for GM, Ford, Dodge, Toyota, Jeep & SUVs), and Mountain Off Road Enterprises (
M.O.R.E. Aftermarket Jeep Parts & Jeep Off-Road Parts). Also, according to FAQs on the Binder Bulletin site (
Binder Bulletin - Powered by vBulletin), '80 Scout II front axles have 2 degrees of caster built into them. Caster correction bushings can also be purchased that allow for up to 1.5 degrees in caster for earlier Scout front axles from Super Scout Specialists (
Scout Parts! Super Scout Specialists, Inc. Home Page www.ihscout.net). Hope this info helps!
Brett Henderson
Conifer, CO
Answer: You're right-these companies do have full-width axle kits for CJs, and I am well aware of their existence and perhaps should have included them. I didn't for a couple of reasons. One, they are shackle reversal systems. Not that I'm against that, as I am a real supporter of rear shackle solid front mounts. They take a lot of stress off the spring and spring mounts, and do improve ride quality. The serious rockcrawlers don't like them because they allow the axle to move rearward when it's up against a solid obstacle. By contrast, with the shackle in front, it forces the axle forward and into an obstacle for better traction.
Here is where I see the problem, and I did mention it in my initial answer. The steering box has to be moved forward to accommodate the longer pitman arm when using the Scout axle. This makes for more fabrication work to make a correct steering-box mount. I think that it would be impossible to move the box forward using the kit from Expert Off Road due to the design of their kit that utilizes a new front bumper (which, by the way, I think is really cool).
Shackle reversal kits also move the axle about 1.5 inches forward, which makes it mandatory to move the steering box even further forward. Not that someone with some good fabrication skills couldn't do this, but then again, if he had the skills in the first place, he wouldn't need to buy the kit, would he?
Shackle reversals also require a driveshaft with about twice as much travel as a standard shaft. So when you factor in the cost of the new long-travel slip-yoke front driveshaft and an outboard spring mount kit ($400 to $500), new steering knuckles for the Scout axle, and all the miscellaneous parts to make it happen, the Scout axle doesn't look all that inviting.
And that, again, brings up the subject of caster angle. My reference book shows the '80 Scout at 1 degree caster and all the earlier years at 0. Even if the '80 model year had 2 degrees (and how many '80 Scout axles are you going to be able to locate?), and even if you used some offset caster bushings that offer 1.5 degrees of increase, that is not nearly enough caster angle for good handling. (I like to see 5-7 degrees.) Not to mention the fact that the pinion angle will totally suck. The only real way to correct the pinion angle/caster angle is to cut the weld holding the steering knuckles to the axletube, rotate them, and reweld.
Anyway, thanks for your insight on this and I really do appreciate readers setting me straight on issues and offering alternate solutions to problems.
