Time to upgrade rear end

[farmer]

I've got a dilemma, here's the background
Trucks running a Scout II Dana 44 rear end, right width and bolt pattern to match my narrow HP 44 front. Running 38" TSLs with the 2.9, probably will V8 within the year.
Thursday the rear wheel bearing grenaded on my way home from work, destroyed retainer plate, scarred up axle shaft splines, and chunks of bearing welded themselves and the race to the housing. If it weren't for the race being stuck in the housing I would keep running it.
So time to replace... What to replace with?
I can get a ff60 for cheap, and my buddy has the 4.88 gears I need to match the front, narrowing it doesn't look too bad, besides the alignment bar. Get Set10 bearing ends and cut to fit the current scout II axle shafts.
Cab and chassis 14 bolt, right width already, I could bring the hubs to work, turn them down, and redrill to 5x5.5
Or do the 14 bolt, what do I need to convert front to 8 lug? It's all 79 parts up front, will 15" 8 lug wheels fit?
What else do you guys think? My scatter brains can't make a decision...

 

[farmer]

Wound up biting the bullet and doing the narrow 14 bolt, gears and install kit are in, I have a Detroit locker kicking around for it, going to pull the axle tomorrow. Ruffstuff swap parts on order. Going to redrill the hubs to 5x5.5 and add disk brakes.
Shouldn't worry about breaking anymore