I just recently put a spring over on my Samurai. The difficulty largely depends on the spring pads that you get. I got ones that wrap around and meet the stock pads. This insures that the angle matches stock.

When you put the pads on just be sure to get a deep enough weld that they will hold up to the job, but not too deep that you will blow through the axle tube.

As far as your other options, I'm sort of in the same boat. I want to lock my rig, but don't want to invest money in light weight axles. Personally, I'm going to wait on doing lockers until I swap to Toyota axles. There's no point in sinking even more money in unnecessarily.

Going spring over when you swap in the 44's would definately be the easiest route.

Mark
1986 Suzuki Samurai soft-top
1999 Toyota Tacoma
http://members.home.net/marvinmartian

 

I just got done doing the SOA and axle swaps. The SOA was really the easy part. For me, building the axles, outboarding the springs, messing with steering, was the harder part.

Here's how I ensured having the spring pads parallel. I put the new perch on the axle and then laid square tubing on top of it. I then put a piece of square tubing along the original perch and clamped them together. I then took measurements 12 inches out and made sure they were exact and then tacked them in place. More measurements after removing the tubing, then heavy welding.

The springover was easy, but my whole project took quite a bit of time. I did Hi-steering at the same time and that made most of my steering problems easier than they would have been.

I wouldn't go to the work on stock axles, but that's because I wanted to run 35s and have lockers too. I waited until I could have the axles built and ready to 'bolt on'.



-raymo
4.6 Stroker Scrambler

 

I would highly reccomend getting 44's and doing the soa swap at the same time. I had no problems with the rear, it went in in less than 2 hrs, but the front is another story. Be careful, and plan well. are you going to change springs) ie 6 leaf), Do a hi-steer, etc... Plan, plan, plan... I can't stress it enough. Get all new things too. I went the cheap route on not getting new calapers , and neither of them worked... 30$ for both, after bleeding forever, I had to buy new ones anyway.
I swapped a waggie 44 into the 30's place, and a scout 44 into the 35's place.

JR
"Some People Live An Entire Lifetime And Wonder If They Have Ever Made A Difference, But The Marines Don't Have That Problem" R. Regan

 

If money isn't a major problem I would do the 44's, lockers and SOA at the same time. If like most people it is, I would do the SOA, learn to drive it open, build your 44's while driving it, then swap them in.
The work isn't that hard, just think things thru like:
required fab skills, longer brake lines, longer shocks, axle wrap prevention, steering geometry, drivelines, spring perches, shackle reversal or not,moving front axle forward if you do SRS, etc. This is the second SOA I have done on my own rigs, and I have done a few others and I like them.
As far as welding goes, please don't learn to weld while building your cage, or doing the SOA. Bumpers and tire carriers are better to learn on since there isn't a huge safety concern there. What happens when you drive down the road and one of your learning welds on a spring perch breaks, or you roll, do you trust your learning welds with your life?

pbm
Knowledge is Power, but Ignorance isn't always Bliss!

 

Lol, I messed up there, It was late.
I'm going to learn how to weld on my carrier.

It's all square tubing, non vital, has some angles for practice, and a couple of tricky bits but nothing too drastic. It also has to be pretty strong, so I can see if my skills are any good. (33's hanging off the back of your rig with steel wheels, has anyone stopped to calculate the ammount of leverage invloved?)

Jeep Icon, Raised 2", Lowered 2", 4pt Independant Suspention. (Yes, that is an Oompa Loompa driving it.)

 

I didn't do my SOA myself but I would say that I wish I had swapped in 44s at the same time. Seems like a waste to do the work over again (going from 30 to 44 after SOA), particularly in the front. Of course I would do a lot differently if I were doing my jeep over.

 

Infernozx-
I figured you were smart enough have those things done if you weren't 100% sure of your welding skills, but I had to make sure. I wouldn't want to see a post about the cage that didn't hold up.

pbm
Knowledge is Power, but Ignorance isn't always Bliss!

 

The only problem is "compunded problems"

If I were puttin a locker in my 35, and 30, then if I had a problem, I know where it is.
If i put 30 and 35 SOA, I know where my problem is, but if I SOA a pair of 44's then thorw lockers in it, I'm going to end up with tripple the problems and not knowhow to fix them.

I won't be doing any rock crawling, so I think I'm just going to go SUA with a pair of 44's, and get lockers at the same time. (I really don't want to be buying 2 different sets of lockers.)
I've got lots of lift now, and 33's on it, no rubbing, no problems to speak of. Maybe I don't need more lift? Not for a while atleast.

Jeep Icon, Raised 2", Lowered 2", 4pt Independant Suspention. (Yes, that is an Oompa Loompa driving it.)

 

Oh, and, how much will a d44 run me?
Front/Back from a wreckers, I'd like to tear it down, and biuld it up myself so I get a solid knowledge of how it works.
Also, the stock 30 on my front end had a dissconnect, so it has free-wheeling hubs, can I get this on a D44? I don't want to have to get out and lock the hubs.

Jeep Icon, Raised 2", Lowered 2", 4pt Independant Suspention. (Yes, that is an Oompa Loompa driving it.)

 

With a locker, your going to want to get out and lock in the hubs. The axle disconnect is a very BIG weak link for anyone.. if your going to a 44, you would bretty much cancel out the bigger axle.

JR
"Some People Live An Entire Lifetime And Wonder If They Have Ever Made A Difference, But The Marines Don't Have That Problem" R. Regan

 

So it would be like having a non auto disconnected D30?

Doesn't seem so bad.
It's just the hub kits are like $600, (last I checked.) and that seems a little steep for an axle thats going to cost?? and a $300 LS.

Jeep Icon, Raised 2", Lowered 2", 4pt Independant Suspention. (Yes, that is an Oompa Loompa driving it.)

 

lol, no.. the dana 44 already has the hub lock outs... Like off of a waggoneer, or a ford truck.. the old style...
if you find a 1980+ jeep waggoneer, and get the front end out of it, check out jeepgods site for the 6 to 5 lug conv. and find a scout rear 44. change all of the gears, and carriers. and you have 2 44's front hubs, and the gears and locker of your choice. If you havn't geared an axle before, try and find someone to help you. it is alot more involved than you think. If you have any questions, email me. I'll tell you using my exp from my swap over the last month.. I just did a soa, and 44 swap.

JR
"Some People Live An Entire Lifetime And Wonder If They Have Ever Made A Difference, But The Marines Don't Have That Problem" R. Regan