For the record, I'm not entirely AGAINST the idea of using a D44 up front...going with the least expensive alternative is certainly the most practical thing to do and, if I were to ever do an SAS myself (highly unlikely, really), a D44 is prolly what I'd wind up doing.

I'm simply proposing a POSSIBLE Mitsubishi-based alternative, if anyone else wanted to pursue this. There may be something about the Mitsu rear axle that would prevent you from even doing this, and it certainly wouldn't be cheap. However, it'd be awfully cool if it COULD be done.