ok so flame on if ya want but i just have a simple question, hopefully answered from those who have been there.

to start with i have searched my a** but trying to find this answer just wont happen by searching. looking to do an axle swap on the 05 LJ. the fronts going to be a d44 (not sure where from yet). the rear i would like to through in a 9in. the question that i have is is the 9in strong enough for 37's. when i meen strong enough im wanting something that i have to worry about breaking, pretty much no matter what i put it through. i know things can happen but under normal circumstances.

Well nothing is unbreakable but a 44 and a 9" should handle 37's just fine. Ive yet to break my 8.8 on 37's. Ive broken the ears off a few shafts in the D30 but no surprise there. My next step is a set of full width HP44/9" axles from a late 70's ford. With as little as ive broken on a 30/8.8 im sure theyll hold up

ford 9 in is a great rear, and will easily handle 37's. Just make sure you get the hd rear, with the 31 spline axles, they normally come in trucks. For a front, why not the jeep rubicon dana 44's, pricey as hell but why not?

No personal experience with a 9'' under a jeep, but thats all i have ever used in hot-rods, last two trucks were a 68 chevy 383 pushin round 475-500 hp at the wheels on a stock 9'' with a set of m/t 10.5 slicks with a spool good hook up at the track and 0 problums and a simular built s-10 tubed and stubed with chromo shafts with 0 problums both 12 second trucks at the track and with a low hp medium tq 6 cylinder you should be fine on a 37 shoe under normal wheeling condtions but you can break anything. i broke a built 8.8 a while back on a set of 32'' cooper a/t's in disney droping the rear in a deep crevice.:shaking: shit happens :grinpimp:

A 31spl 9" with a full spool or locker is good for almost anything with 37's. The 44, however, i would run chromos. Our wheeling group has had very bad luck with stock 44 shaft ears stretching and breaking, and we all run 33's, 35's or 36's. We are not easy on our stuff either, so maybe you'd be ok.

thanks to everyone. got the answers i was looking for. the front and rear will both have upgraded shafts and fully built. i just dont want to dump money into building them up and then just snap shafts left and right.

i remember reading something somewhere about the 9 haveing two different materials that were used. and one was hard to weld to. anyone know what im talking about?

Just don't do burn-outs in a parking lot. Now ask me why I say this.:flipoff2:

You can upgrade the 9" axle shafts if you need to. I'm running 35 spline customs with a detroit locker on 37's, no problems yet.

I recently went through the same decision, well regarding a 44 up front. I got convinced to go with a 60. Your going to spend more $ to beef up the 44 to its max than you would on a 60 that still has room to grow. If all your going to run is 37s then they should hold but I knew I would eventually want bigger and dont want to have to swap axles twice.

As for a 9" rear. Have seen a few on the trails. Only one failure, The 3rd member housing let go and puked gears. Cherokee on 35s or 37s.

That said, I have a 60 rear in Charlottesville Va Im trying to get rid of:D

If you have an 05 LJ don't you already have a rear 44? Not saying that the 9 inch is a weak axle or anything but I couldn't justify to myself going through the work and money of swapping a 44 for a 9 inch. If you are going to have to get new wheels (5 on 4.5 to 5 on 5.5) why not just go to 8 lug and do it once. There are plenty of rear 60's or, even better 14 bolts, for like 100 bucks out there that you wont have to dump cash into to beef up. You can still do a front 44 with 8 lug hubs for cheap. full width is cooler anyways and you dont often hear people bitching about how their axle is TOO strong.

Don't forget you want the same bolt pattern no matter what axles you decide on.

Just don't do burn-outs in a parking lot. Now ask me why I say this.:flipoff2:

I concur, I know where you are going and the same thing happened to me when I was younger. I blew a 9" up on 33"s. My situation is not the norm however as it wasn't in a Jeep and there wasn't a stock motor involved. :flipoff2:

It should be fine, but if you really want to be bulletproof you want a 14b or a 60. No, it won't drag everywheres as much as the parrot response is on this board I know alot of guys that run them with 37s and 38s and they drag no more then a D44 does with 35s.