JPOR: narrowing a housing questions - JOHN?

[Jeff <jayers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am just about at the point to cut my High Pinion D44 housing to width
and would like to know any details on calculating the cut point.  The
housing is from a '75 F150 and I am cutting it to use '89 Wagoneer
shafts (possibly using a early Wagoneer short shaft as it is one inch
shorter than the '89.)  Where should I measure from?  BTW, I noticed
that the housing ends on the '89 were actually thicker than the Ford
housing ends where they attach to the tubes.  Probably a 1/4 or so more
grab on the tube than the Ford ends which are about 1" thick at this
point.  Should I simply compare the new shafts to the old shafts and cut
the difference out of the housing?  Or should I measure from the
differential side gears back sides to some point on the housing that
correlates to the correct spot to keep the u-joints centered between the
ball joints?  Please give me some pointers here.  BTW, I removed one
housing end already and even after grinding the weld flush, I had a heck
of a time removing the remaining 1" shaft piece.  I needed to cut the
piece in several places with a hack saw and beat the pieces out.  The
problem was that the weld penetrated past the edge of the housing end
and I had to break a little weld to get the tube end out.  Probably
around 1/16" of weld.  I didn't want to grind into the housing end
further though.  Oh yeah, how exactly did you measure caster for setting
that when reinstalling the ends?  The flat spots above and below the
ball joint mounting holes should be 90 degrees to a line running through
the ball joint centers, but they are also angled in compared the axle
tube.  So if I put an angle finder on the bottom of the housing end
across the ball joint mouning hole and placed it facing for and aft so
that you could read it looking at the end of the housing tube, it would
not give a correct reading because it would not be sitting completely
vertical.  should I make a little angled pad to mount on the housing end
to allow the angle finder to sit completely vertical yet allow reading
of the caster?  Thanks, Jeff