I've stuck to 35" tires, am light footed, and overly cautious. Carnage has been minimal, but it also limits what I can do. The urge to upgrade the LJ has been strong, but only a want and not a real need now. If/when I upgrade, I'm leaning heavily in the direction of a 9" front and rear. I haven't called and talked to them yet, but I'm curious about the ones listed below.I have a Tera Low CRD60 rear axle and like Jeff it is a semi-floating design. I broke on R&P with 35 " tires and then the R&P again with 38" tires and both times with the Dodge 5.2 V-8.
I have broken 1 u-joint/axle shaft on my HP44 and that was with 38" tires in the snow and I was working the wheel lock to lock. But this was with a Spicer u-joint & Alloy USA axles. I went to Longfield 300M u-joints but only had a few runs on them before I parked it for the overheating issues. I now have RCV axles in it. The "OLD SCHOOL" Dana 44/HP44 has a different ball joint design than the TJ/JK axles. I never had any issues with my BJ's even with the 38 TSL SX tires on Hummer rims.
If I blow up another R&P in my HP60 rear axle I'll most likely follow in Jeff's lead and do a 14 bolt rear. But I so also have a low pinion Dana 60 housing that I could try building. I could use it also. If I was to do the 14 Bolt I'd get the CRD60 retubed and make a steering axle out of it.
Given the front is still a 1/2 ton, I'm having a hard time justifying dropping that much money and still have 44 ball joints. However, there does appear to be an option to upgrade there. Of the two, to me, the full float rear, for $5400, doesn't sound unreasonable. Of course there's lots more data to gather and understand!
https://www.westerndiff.com/custom-ford-9”-fronthttps://www.westerndiff.com/custom-ford-9”-rear-0