Ultimate Scout Dana 44

Good stuff. Chad brought up a really good point and that is sprung under vs over. I guess the write up would be the same except which housing gets used, as the pad is on top with a Chevy axle
something else to consider for an ultimate 44 axle would be a high steer setup. And if you want 1 finger steering your going to need ram assist too:icon_eek: might as well tossing one toe brakes while your getting everything setup.( hydro boost brakes) ok ok I know I broke the bank, got off topice but you would be surprised at the number of setup's out there.
 
ihochad said:
Ford stuff is late 80's to early 90's the Chevy stuff is from early 70's to early 90's (what ever year they switched over to ifs). The hard part is actually finding the small Chevy spindles. The cool ones are what Jeff and I call the tri-fecta. It's a mid 80's (if memory serves correctly) waggy housing as michael stated. It comes from the factory with this set up. 5 lug and everything. We found one in the wrecking yard a couple of years ago. These are great for staying spring under and keeping a relatively stock width. However if you are going spring over and full width just go with the Chevy housing.
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I think you need to start drinking again:dita: .

I always use 1977 as the year for all the GM and Ford parts required for this conversion. Not saying that Chad is wrong on years for the GM/Ford parts as they were used consistently for many years but 1977 is the year I always use. On the waggy housing its the mid 70's ones that come "tri-fecta" style since they are same width as Scout II and come with flat top knuckles and GM brakes(some are also large bearing spindle so that will need to be swapped out in favor of small bearing spindles). They are usually 6 lug like GM so swap out the hub/rotor for Ford and the inner wheel bearing race. As for the small bearing spindles they are easy to find(its the larger bearing ones that are hard to find) and normally in stock both new and used.

Keep in mind if you don't want to go searching all over for all these parts that they are available at iho north and are normally in stock.
 
The "small" bearing GM spindles will only be found on 1/2 tons and will not be found after 1976!

There are 4 GM caliper brackets as well, for all intents and purposes 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton, they won't work on the other!, and then both have what I call standard and heavy, the standard have a tin dust shield welded to the bracket and the heavy ones are a full plate stamping, I prefer the heavy ones.
 
goldie locks said:
the "small" bearing GM spindles will only be found on 1/2 tons and will not be found after 1976!

There are 4 GM caliper brackets as well, for all intents and purposes 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton, they won't work on the other!, and then both have what I call standard and heavy, the standard have a tin dust shield welded to the bracket and the heavy ones are a full plate stamping, I prefer the heavy ones.
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After further review in my Dana books you are correct goldie locks. The small bearing spindle Dana part # 706528x was available only on 1/2 ton front GM Dana 44 axles from 1973-1976.5. Look for axle bom of either 603374, 603454, 603675, and 603706.
 
ihojeff said:
after further review in my Dana books you are correct goldie locks. The small bearing spindle Dana part # 706528x was available only on 1/2 ton front GM Dana 44 axles from 1973-1976.5. Look for axle bom of either 603374, 603454, 603675, and 603706.
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A rh flat top knuckle is also a good indicator, they disappeared at about the same time? But they can also be found on 3/4 tons and jeeps as well.
 
ihojeff said:
I think you need to start drinking again:dita: .
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What I need to do is get out from behind this stupid computer and get back in the shop!!! I used up my memory capacity years ago and now valuable things like proper years of Dana equipped vehicles are being replaced by stupid stuff like cost per unit, warehouse square feet and shipping lane cost and quotas. Damn now I'm depressed :(
 
ihochad said:
what I need to do is get out from behind this stupid computer and get back in the shop!!! I used up my memory capacity years ago and now valuable things like proper years of Dana equipped vehicles are being replaced by stupid stuff like cost per unit, warehouse square feet and shipping lane cost and quotas. Damn now I'm depressed :(
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Hey you can get a 16 gig memory stick at fry's for $39 buck's:gringrin:

just in case you haven't been to picknpull lately, theres fords from 2002 in there. Cars and trucks from the 70's are almost non existent. Its rare to see a car for them olden days, I do see the older trucks, but not very many anymore. There was a big influx of old iron when gas went to $5 a gallon but they were crushing them in like 3 weeks too. Not saying you can't find this stuff out there, but expect to be looking for a while.
 
I have a friend who owns a small scrap/wrecking yard. He has already supplied me with all the Chevy stuff. The Ford stuff is now in the works. Thanks for all the help everyone.
 
Just out of curiosity, did someone say that switching to the Chevy spindles gives you the caster you need for a SOA rather than turning the knuckles?
 
The spindle position/design has nothing to do with "caster" geometry.

If..."camber shims" are used when mounting spindles, camber May be manipulated within a very small range. But first ya must have the entire vehicle weight sitting on the tires and determine what the camber "numbers" are before attempting any change.

Do not confuse camber shims (which go between the spindle face and the knuckle) with "caster shims" (as in the wedges used for leaf-spring/straight axle alignment correction/change). Caster and camber are two completely different subjects, though both are used to achieve specific alignment targets.
 
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