SWEET!! I finally got some good axles for my Sportage. I went with Dana 44's out of a International Scout. WMS to WMS is 60" so it should be a perfect fit. They were just rebuilt with 4.56 gears(which will need to go), And I can use my old wheels it's the same lug pattern. I cant wait to get started!!! I'll keep everyone posted with pic's. Here are the axles!!


<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Give us alot of pics as you work on your project. Way cool.
Everet <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Looks like those will hold up better than stock. Post some pics as you do the conversion.

tons and tons of pics as im thinkin of doin this.....

nice! I am debating whether to do it or not.

now i am not very smart when it comes to axles. will any dana 44 gears and lockers work on any dana 44 regardless of what vehicle they came from? or is it still vehicle specific. i know the axle shafts themselves would be different lengths and such.

sweet leafs or coils?

Defboy, Any passenger drop diff will work, but keep in mind there are going to be A LOT variables ie:
Custom driveshafts
link geometry
steering geometry
Gears
Etc, Etc, Etc...

I used a Dana 44 because it's been done before by Dave, his came out of a wagoneer mine came out of a scout. I'm going to have to replace the steering knuckles with a chevy or jeep to do a high steering set up. There is a lot to this project, reaserch, reaserch, reaserch before you jump in. Make sure you really want to do this, because even with my simple setup I'm still going to be out of commission for at least 2-3weeks while building.

Kiarazy- I'm going with leafs int he front and a 1/4 eliptic in the rear. Leafs havent been done on a Kia yet but from the professionals I've spoken to they will most definatly be the cheapest and the easiest to fab up. ROKIA here in Reno Has already done a 1/4 eliptic rear I will just be using stronger springs to give a firmer ride. here's an example of ROKIA's eliptic suspension:

leafs have been done before, just not in the US, that i know of. there were at least 2 rigs in either Korea or Malaysia that ran leafs with Scout axles. there are 2 issues with the Scout axles- one, the inner knuckle C's will need to be turned for caster and the outer knuckles will need to be replaced with the afore mentioned 75-77 (i think) waggy knuckles. if i recall correctly, chevy's only have a flat-top knuckle on the driver's side. this is not only to get high-steer. it is for 2 other reasons, the knuckle steering arm is way loo long to get even a remotely straight line from the steering box to the arm with a drag-link and if you move the axle forward any, it will be even worse. so, either move the steering box forward, a lot, or move the arm back.

and then there's the wheel bolt pattern....

Scout knuckles have 8 spindle bolts, Jeep and chevy have 6. Scout axles have a 5-5.5 wheel bolt pattern, Jeep and chevy have 6-5.5. so, you may need to find some way to get the Scout spindle back onto the Jeep knuckle or go to Pirate4x4 and look in the Tech section for all the correct Ford parts to swap the knuckle and keep the 5-5.5 bolt pattern.

it's a long road. have fun.