44 FOR MY 63 80

alaskarob

New member
Hello I have a 1963 Scout 80 4x4 with a 3 speed gas 152 4cl. It has d27s front & rear. Im looking to upgrade the rear to a 44 and maybe leave the front alone its geared at 4.27 I live in a remote area in alaska with no used parts avalible. Ive read & read but still somewhat confused as people have done so many different things. This will be used as a daily driver/hunting rig does just doing the rear make sense? Im going down south in 1 week on a hunt and would like to maybe get what I need ill be driving from seattle to new mexico so ill be covering some good parts country. What would be a ideal rearend for me to look for? Anybody have one for sale on my route does just doing the rear sound foolish thanks for your help confused in alaska
 
For the purpose you have described, the oem axles should work just fine actually! Especially on a stock vehicle. Those worked great in use for many years for folks who bought those vehicles for simple utilitarian duty around farm/ranch/construction site/log woods.

But...the rear axle should have the outer axle bearings serviced on a regular basis, they get packed with grease. If they are not serviced, then bearing seizure is likely and that results in spinning the outer race rendering the axle housing unusable.

Do not fall into the trap you see all over the I-net where folks say..."remove the inner seals and let pumpkin oil lube the bearings". That is not an effective solution at all regarding that type bearing system for tapered hub d27 or d44.

A d44 axle was an option on those vehicles...and it had a pumpkin offset to the passenger side so that proper driveline alignment was accomplished with the output of the d18 transfer case. And that axle also used the tapered hub, two piece axle shaft.

The axle width used in the oem s80 and s800 is fairly narrow. The popular conversion is to use a later version d44 donated by a Scout II but it's going to be somewhat wider. A tapered hub d44 used in the Scout 800 is going to have a "centered" pumpkin since those vehicles used a d20 transfer case. While you can use one of those...since the driveline angle is compromised, the u-joint life is going to be greatly diminished!
 
Thanks for the response michael you confirmed what was deep in the back of my head. How did this vechicle survive almost 50 yrs with its stock parts?? I guess its easy to get in theese forums read how you have to change this & that or youll be doomed to some mechanical failure. Ill get on those bearings & put my time & money in the vechicle somewhere else thanks again alaska rob
 
For sale , trade or buying International Scout parts! I have many parts and I am looking for some as well . Just got in a 345 v8 not running $50 , 727 automatic Scout II tranny $50 v8 Scout II radiator $40 powersteering box , hoses and pump $75 hoods $40 axles $50each motors $50 t-19 tranny $50 lots of other parts as well. I also have a 1971 Scout II 304 stick sprungover runs and drives no title good offroader .only buying scouts $200 or under right now. Call george at 907-315-0775

you can try this guy, been to his place in wasilla, ak a couple of times, he has a bunch of stuff laying around including rear/front ends. Very reasonable as well. He usually posts on craigslist in the summer time. Has kind of a mini junk yard for International stuff.
 
thanks for the response michael you confirmed what was deep in the back of my head. How did this vechicle survive almost 50 yrs with its stock parts?? I guess its easy to get in theese forums read how you have to change this & that or youll be doomed to some mechanical failure. Ill get on those bearings & put my time & money in the vechicle somewhere else thanks again alaska rob

Yep...most folks who hang in these forums only consider severe off-road use and abuse as the criteria for axle applications! But the vast majority of the "users" of this type vehicle are simply looking for replacement parts, how-to regarding service, and/or keeping everything original for restoration purposes.

We try and cover all the bases around here...from "stock" repair to highly modded, purpose-built stuff. Down here, the majority of the s80 rigs we see in barns, lots, etc. That still run, are used only a few times a year for hunting rigs! Those were very common in the day in the nw for use in timber cruising also and certainly served the purpose well, and also did snow plow duty when called upon.

For an s80 hunting rig, ya can't beat the real deal for camo, this is mine...
 

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bet your camo is kind of dried out and brown by now.

Lyle

Yeah...I stripped it into the burn pile today, makes real good tender!

Doghauler came into the shop for another long rest today. I've got four 1904 carbs to test run, then the motor is gonna come out and go onna test stand permanently for carb and distributor validation.

It's time to get that stroker motor and t-18 combo under way, that will be this year's winter project.

Rob...that one has the option d44 axle in the rear, geared 4.27 (most of the s80 rigs were) and has a powrloc limited slip.

This shot shows what it takes to remove the tapered hub/drum unit form the axle shaft. The oem drums were "peened" to the hub. I knock the studs out and then remove the drum form the hub and open up the center hole just a touch to remove the peening. Then I install new wheel studs only into the hub itself. Last of all, the brake drum slides right over. That way, for the future, you can easily remove the brake drum and access the axle retainer bolts so that the axle can be removed for bearing service without dealing with pulling the tapered hub off the axle shaft.

A rear d27 will most likely have the smaller 9" brakes, the set shown in this pic are the option 11" brakes.
 

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That is an old skool "tapered hub puller" from otc. There's a chinee knockoff in circulation at much less cost but I've not tried one regarding quality.

Originally developed pre-wwii for poppin' off tapered hub/drum sets used on about every rear axle in passenger car/light truck apps. Idea is to prevent warping/distorting the drum/hub combo when using a large three jaw puller, those will turn a drum inside out before the hub releases from the tapered axle end.

Those are made to "slug" with an appropriate hammer such as a 10lb. Lead mallet, etc. The ram screw setup is rated for generating 10 tons of pressure. Some hubs come right off if properly seated on the taper, others require an application of heat in a spot on the hub shank using a gasaxe. Always keep the nut scruud on loosely when pulling, the entire assembly can fly across the shop with lethal force when it decides to go!

Ya grease up the pusher screw with anti-seize, and I put a "protector" on the end of the threaded axle stub to prevent mushrooming the stub, it gets anti-seize also.

The one in the pic belongs to greg r., don't know if he still sleeps with it under his pillow or not.
 

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I was also eyeballing mayben's hub puller myself. Did a little looking and the closest I've been able to find is this one here -- which is probably the chinese knockoff he was talking about.
 
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