Gm 44 swap questions/advice

[Chantalscout]

I’ll start by saying I’m new to scouts and domestic’s in general. My last vehicle was an 02 WRX STI conversion, before that was Hondas and Nissans with their Japanese motor counterparts.
I fell in love with the scout 2 a few years ago and finally found one with minimal rust and body damage. So the project starts.

It currently has the international Dana 44’s (3.54 gears). I’m putting in a 5.3ls with an NV4500 and Dana 300 (international). Planning on running 33’s.

While I’m secure in my mechanical skill and welding (used to be certified but let it go since I’m no longer doing structural welding) I don’t want to bother doing the cut and turn myself. I was talking to a local shop that builds custom axles for vehicles he suggested going GM 44 as it is already SOA. He would shorten the axles “for free” as I’d be buying it from him and having him do the cut/turn. Would be keeping the scout bolt pattern to match the rear.
The rear has the factory locker, which I’d rather keep as this vehicle is light off road and lots of highway miles.
I have a rear scout 44 that’s 3.73.
I’ll be purchasing the CPT SOA kit.
So questions.
Should I bother changing gearing to the 3.73, or what’s the lowest gearing with the factory locker? Again should I bother?
What should I be aware of doing this swap?
Should I go ahead and do the Chevy brake conversion offered?

I’m a big fan of “buy once cry once” so want to get everything figured out before I buy more than I have (Atlas factory height springs, 5.3, nv4500 and d300).
Still on the fence for RS.
Any advice or knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
I’m in the north west so I haven’t found anyone to talk with about my build questions/advice. Seems they only do Toyotas up here.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

I'll try and answer your questions as you asked them.

33's,a NV4500 and 3.73 gearing is going to make for some tall highway gearing overall. I would consider regearing both axles to at least 4.10 if not 4.27 or 4.56 (depends on where you live). I would ditch the factory 'locker'. It is a Trac-Loc which is a weak limited-slip known in the industry as a 'Crack-Lok' due to their tendency to break in half under not so extreme conditions.

Lots of great write ups out there on performing a SOA conversion on a Scout II both on this site and Binderplanet. This thread in particular has all our CPT SOA parts installed and is a good reference on how things should go together. Scout II SOA + R/S

I would suggest the Chevy brake conversion. It is actually a Chevy/Ford conversion as it uses Ford hub/rotors in order to match the 5x5.5 wheel bolt pattern. This set up is stronger than the Scout hub/rotor/spindles and parts are easier to source when brake pads, calipers, or wheel seals are needed.

I would do the reverse shackle at the same time as the SOA. before having the axle built, buy the SOA kit, install it including the reverse shackle kit, and then get the spring pad measurement for the axle. From there the guy doing the cut and turn will know where your axle pads are at and can then rotate the knuckles accordingly. We like to set the caster at around 5 degrees with the passenger side having .2 to .3 degrees more caster than the driver side.