I need to narrow a full width (66" wms-wms, 1979, f150 supercab) rc d44 for my TJ. I have an Explorer 8.8 rearend, so I want to keep the front around 62", give or take an inch. I know I can narrow it and use waggy shafts, but do I have to narrow both sides, or can I narrow the short side only and use a short side inner waggy axle (Warn part# 38808), which is 4+ inches shorter than the F150? Will the pumpkin to far to the left of center if I do it this way? There seems to be so many axle combinations, I'm a bit confused.

Thanks

Is the 8.8 already built?
You should be able to get a 9" out of any Ford Truck or Bronco after 77 that will match up with that front end for pretty cheap.
The 9 would already have 31 spline axles as well.
Unless you just don't want to be that wide I wouldn't go to the trouble of narrowing the front.
Just my opinion.

hmmm, since it is out of a supercab, does it have leaf spring perches? If so, then yes you can narrow it. If the radius arm mounts are cast into the tube, you may have to re-tube it. I am in a similar situation. Mine is 66.5" (an F250 HP D44 with 5lug stuff instead of 8lug, this narrowed it 3"). I want to narrow it to 62" also. I have come to the conclusion that it will be easier for me to narrow both sides evenly, but that is because I use the leaf spring perches that are already there. Since you will be welding on TJ mounts, it wont matter. I would look for a 74-79 waggy long side shaft, and a 80-91 short side shaft. That will narrow the short side by 1.5", and the long side by 2.7", which is a total of 4.2" narrower.

I have damn near the same axle, a 79' F250 HP d44. I opted to just go with 17" rims w/ 5" back spacing. Put's you in the same damn place and much less stress on your ball joints.

Yes, the 8.8 is in. Yes, it's out of a supercab, setup for leafs; no radius arm mounts. Yep, I'll need different wheels, since I'll need the 5x5.5 pattern. I'm thinking that cutting down the short side to fit the 14.69" waggy short side axle would give me the length I need. I picking y'all's brains and experience to find the answer. Is their any reason why this would not work? I seems pretty simple, but then again, I have a simple mind!

Will cutting down the short side (driver's side) of the f150 d44, about 4", be too short for the TJ spring pad, etc.? Would there be any problems with this scenario?

This may not be ideal, but you could run spacers on the 8.8 that also change the lug pattern to 5x5.5. That way you wouldn't have to narrow the front or run 2 different kinds of wheels.