Does anybody know which axles work?
I have a buddy who has a late 80's ranger 4x4 with no title, body damage, blown clutch. I think there is a dana 28 up front. I was considering trying to get the axle until I heard the 28 and the 30 are nothing but boat anchors and a 44(70's broncos) is needed. The 44's can be found second hand for about 300 bucks.

I definitely won't do anything like this before 60K, but I wouldn't mind collecting some parts in the meantime.

My neighbor is a welder and works on 4wd's. He doesn't seem to think the job is all that bad. He insists that the swap will actually save money in the long run because all that IFS shit won't be wearing out and breaking all the time.