Scout 44 in a CJ?

I saw an ad for a dana 44 frontend from a 75 scout today. Anyone know what would be required to put this under my 59 cj5? Also, would 5.38 gears be readily available for this axle? It's got disc brakes and that has got me:drool:

Welding on new spring perches is no big deal, I just don't know how much wider this axle is from WMC to WMC. Thanks in advance guys.

 

Scout 2 Dana 44's are about 61" IIRC from wms to wms. They are real close to narrow track Wagoneers. You will need to outboard the springs. '75 should have disc brakes but double check. The arms for the tie rod/drag link are much longer than stock CJ so that will have to be dealt with. Scout 2 axles come with 0 degrees caster so that could pose some issues as well if you plan on driving it on the street. If you can find one a Wagoneer would be a better choice as they already have caster in them. Only thing is you would need to convert to 5 lug, but that is pretty easy to do. I'm not saying the Scout 2 is a bad axle, but there are issues you will need to deal with. Oh, yeah, 5.38 gears were stock in many early CJ's and will fit right in the front Dana 44 with the right carrier. Nickmil.

 

Thanks Nickmil!
Would you have to outboard the springs on the wagoneer axle too? I'd like the jeep to see some pavement eventually, so caster would be good.

 

Yup. The reason is where the pumpkin is on the axle. If you put the spring in the stock location on the axle then the driver's side sticks waaayyyyyy out! One other thing I should have mentioned is that both axles use a different size taper and tie rod end so that will also need to be dealt with. There are various companies though that build custom tie rods and drag links to handle this. I had R&P do one for me a while back that had a Wagoneer tie rod end on one end and a stock CJ on the other! Nickmil.