I need some help from the Scout Gods. I am trying to help out a buddy and gave him some d44's from under a 76 Scout parts truck I had. After hauling them home last night he is thinking that the stub axles might neck down to something like the D30 size (just by looking at the small hub size). I know nothing about these d44's and wanted to know if someone can point me in the direction of some reading info or can give me a quick run-down on what's up on Scout D44's. Thanks in advance.

Yep - Scout outer shafts are tiny...

Do a google search...

Guess I suck at the search thing. I tried this forum and a google search for Scout outer axle shafts and got mostly vendor stuff. I was told that Scout D44's were a good upgrade for the weaker Jeep stuff but maybe not? What is required to beef up the scout axle? Man, I sure hope I didn't lead my buddy down the wrong path here!

OK....

Scout front D44 - Standard 30 spline inners, Standard u-joint size, whimpy necked down 27 spline outers, limited demand brake rotors ($$), standard thickness axle tubes (not beefy or extra thick as IH lore would lead you to believe). Cast in the center section passeneger side SUA spring mount makes for carving out a SOA spring mount a PITA. Everything else is pretty standard.

Rear Scout D44 - Standard semi float drum brake D44.

Thanks uglyscout. So basically a decent axle except for the wimpy outers. Any cheap tricks to convert to chevy or ford outers? Is the "fix" just alloy outers?

Edit - nevermind - I was able to find a bunch of information on chevy/fors parts swaps. I can get it from there. Again, Thanks

Run them till they break.

Sure, they aren't as *strong* as Chevy/Ford 19-spline outers, but they aren't that fragile.


Really depends on what your doing, how your wheeling, how stupid you are and dumb luck. I know folks that broke them every time out, then I know other guys with similar set-ups running the same or similar trails that have almost never had a problem.


Run them as-is while your buddy starts gathering parts for a GM/Ford swap. You'll probably need to go that way if/when you do high-steer anyway.

Thanks uglyscout. So basically a decent axle except for the wimpy outers. Any cheap tricks to convert to chevy or ford outers? Is the "fix" just alloy outers?

Edit - nevermind - I was able to find a bunch of information on chevy/fors parts swaps. I can get it from there. Again, Thanks

Look in the FAQ, there is an article about swapping to stronger outers.