800A dana 44 front axle swap only

[gillis51]

I am planning to swap out at least the front axle on my 69 Scout 800A with a Scout II Dana 44 and keep the original rear 800 Dana 44. *

The donor front scout ii Dana 44 currently has 3.07's and the 800 rear has 3.73's so I know I'll have to swap out the gears in the front to match the rear. *While the front scout ii Dana 44 is at the axle shop I would have the width reduced to match the 800 width rear 44. *

I'm running lift springs and body lift (PO install so I'm not certain on total lift) adequate for 31's without tire rub.*

The cost to shorten the front Dana 44 and swap gears is about the same as the cost to swap gears in both scout II axles not reducing width.

Before I dig in I wanted to sound my logic off people who know a heck of a lot more about this than me.

Are there any major benefits to using a Scout II Dana 44 in the rear. *are there any issues with the 800 Dana 44 I should be concerned with? Is what I'm planning ok or are there pitfalls to doing so.

I plan to run all of the scout II steering gear including power steering and hydroboost brakes.

Current power train is 304 with auto transmission. *Eventually I plan to upgrade the power train to a minimum of T-19 4 speed and possibly swap in *a 345.

Pictures soon, once it stops raining