I have personally narrowed a Chevy Dana 44 to Scout 2 width and installed it into a Scout. Please note that it seems that nothing was ever set in stone when it comes to older 4x4's. As far as I know just about any Chevy Dana 44 will suit your needs. I believe there were some Chevy Dana 44's that had thicker axle tubes but they still had the same outer diameter. Note: many people confuse Chevy 10 bolt axles with Dana 44's.
Chevy 10 bolts started production around 1978.
The only items you have too use from a Chevy Dana 44 is the housing. You have some options when you get to the c's, knuckles, and caster settings. My personal preference was to use a grinder and grind the welds out around the c's of the Chevy housing. Hammer the c's off of the tubes. Measure the length of the Scout 2 axle tubes. Cut the Chevy axle tubes to the exact same dimensions. Clean up the axle tubes so the c's can be hammered back onto the axle tubes. Install the narrowed Dana 44 underneath the Scout. Put jack stands underneath the housing and put the full weight of the Scout onto the housing. Then use a angle finder to set your caster setting. I had great success with 6 degrees of caster which really helps with the steering wheel returning back to center on its own and not following ruts in the road. The original Scout housing had 0 degrees of caster.
which did not help with handling going down the road.
This is also the time you need to think about your front driveline angle! You May or May not need to do this portion. Since you May need to tilt the pinion towards the transfer case since your doing a SOA and gaining a bunch of lift. You will need to install angled shims underneath your leaf springs since your passenger side spring perch is at a fixed angle. I prefer to use steel shims. With my Scout I used a pair of 6 degree shims. Yours May differ!
So with the scouts full weight on the axle and letting it settle for a day or two..... Use a angle finder and set it on top of the c's on each side. Set your caster. Tack weld the c's onto the axle tubes in numerous places. Remove the housing. Finish weld the c's. You can take it to a pro or do it yourself if you trust your welding.
Install the Scout 2 gears and carrier, axles shafts, knuckles, spindles, hubs, rotors, and etc all the way out to the locking hubs.
Of course you also have the option if you have Chevy flat top knuckles (which have 5 or 6 spindle mounting studs) to redrill the knuckle for the Scout 8 hole spindles. This is what I did to be able to install high steer arms and keep my steering above the springs. Good luck!!
please do your home work before buying!!!!!!
