Full width axles

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

Had the afternoon off so... I scoured the junk yards!  heh...

First yard - all but ONE of the Dana 44 front ends was missing axle 
shafts.. finally found a '72 SII w/ a Dana 44 front with *drums* (of 
course, the drums were missing) with axle shafts.. but no 3.73 ratio.. 
3.31, 3.54 and 3.07.. 

Yard #2.  They had ONE IH.. a '77 Travelall... make that Traveler.. 
despite what the window claimed it was.

I don't know why this Traveler was in the junkyard.  It was nearly 
complete.. the motor had the pan off, but the 727, D20, driveshafts, '44 
axles, front buckets, rear bench, top.. all there.  And it wasn't bashed 
up from an accident nor did it have terminal cancer (the front body 
mounts had even been repaired).. and the front axle was there, hub to 
hub, complete with rotors.. but 3.54 ratio.  Yard wants $300 for the 
front end.. I asked, "How much for the whole thing?".. gotta call back on 
Monday to talk to the right person.  This Traveler has AC, too.. of 
course, would I ever really gut it for parts, or would I leave it as-is, 
drop the 196 and 3spd in, and let mom drive it?... hmmm..

Yard #3.  Most of the IHs were missing the entire front clip.. no 
motors.. and anything that had a front axle in it was a 2wd with IFS... 
If I find another 2wd Travelall w/ IFS front...

Finally found what I was after.. I found a '74 150 4x4 with a good motor 
(it was dusk, I couldn't read the engine tag) and a Dana 44 lying in the 
mud.. pull the tag.. 3.73!  Turn the axle shaft.. it spins.. turn the 
pinion yoke, axle shaft turns.. cool... but wait, the long-side axle 
shaft is GONE.  But I found one in another truck nearby.. had 4.09 gears 
in it.

I asked a price - $150 for the housing, 3.73 gears, and both axle 
shafts and spindles.

However, no calipers, no rotors, no hubs.  Recall that '74 had disc 
brakes and, by all accounts, parts are $$$$.

Why are the disc brake parts so spendy?  What's so special about them?

Could I buy this axle, get a set of new Scout II rotors and calipers, 
Scout II front hubs, and put it all together?  Why/why not?

Now.. how to make a full width axle work..

They're spring-over to begin with.  And the drag-link is an actual drag 
link.. the steering box is outside the frame, with the pitman arm going 
forward/backwards on a vertical axis.. the driver's knuckle has a twist 
in it and is attached to the pitman arm via the drag link.

Could I change out the passenger side spindle or modify it to allow me to 
use a stock Scout II gearbox and draglink?

Any other ideas on a full-width front axle installation?..

Ideally, I want 4.88:1 gears.. but if I can find a 3.73 front end to 
match the 3.73 T'all rear end I already have, I can do the $300 gear swap 
later on.. but if I end up re-gearing one axle, might as well do both at 
once and save on doing *another* R&P job..

-Tom