do you measure from center of yoke to end of shaft or what? I'm guessing this is how warn and them do it sense the yokes are thicker then stock so you couldnt just measure end to end. i'm narrowing a front 44 and would like to be able to cut it while I save up money for axle shafts.

When I sent in the specs to Warn for a cut down long side inner for a D44 I specified 29" spline end to yoke center.
When I finally recieved it there were "27inch" notations on it and that is how it was invoiced.
Seems they use the measurment from the flange face (exactly 2" inboard from the yoke center) spec when cutting and resplining.
I suspect you just have to make it clear how you measured to tell the length you need ... :p

Yep, back side of the yoke to the end of the spline.....

Depending on what you are cutting it down to, here is measurments and the stock length axle shafts you can use:

67.5" wide, 31.5" spring perch centers- stock Chevy 6-lug
69" wide, 31.5" perches- stock Chevy 8-lug
68.75" wide, 31.5" perches- Ford 5-lug outers
65" wide, ~29" perches- long side cut down 2-3/8", use 70's Ford long side axle shaft
63.5" wide, 27.5" perches- long side cut down 4", use 80's Wagoneer long side axle shaft
62" wide, 29" perches- long side cut 4", short side 1.5", use 80's Wagoneer long side, Dodge short side.

This info comes from ErikB's site:

ErikB's site (http://home.off-road.com/~bibelheimer/sas.html)