Lars

When evaluated as a hard-core off-road vehicle, the Jeep YJ is often praised for its excellent fuel-injected motor and panned for its weak axles and low, limited-articulation suspension. Dealing with the suspension is easy enough: there are many aftemarket kits available to lift the YJ and dramatically increase the suspension's articulation. Increasing the axle strength is another matter.

The complex part of axle swaps is the front axle. The front axle is much more complex than the rear axle because of caster, spring perch placement, and steering linkage among other things. The front Scout II Dana 44 is a good fit for a Wrangler YJ though. The work involved is not as hard as it is time consuming. Doing a spring over axle conversion (SOA) at the same time adds to complexity, but it is the time to do it, if you are going to do it.

In comparison, it was much easier to prepare the rear axle housing than the front. As with the front, I completely disassembled it and steam cleaned it. New bearings & seals were purchased, as were new brakes and drums.

One major concern with the Scout II axle swap is the transfer case. The Scout II uses a passenger drop transfer case, so the front differential is on the passenger side. All the Wranglers use a drivers drop transfer case, so the solution is to use a Dana 300 from a 80s CJ. This also means that the exhaust needs to be rerouted around to the other side. There are also other details to the swap, some of the details are related to doing a spring over axle conversion.