If you can afford it, I would say yes. It is a better axle.

 

They really aren't basically the same. They may both be Dana 30's, but JK housings are 5" wider, have taller C's, are under much heavier vehicles, and have some metallurgical issues going on. (or had metal issues? Guess I haven't seen any shattered housing threads in a while?) This tends to make JK housings quite a bit easier to bend than previous versions.

 

The JK D30 and D44 use basically the same housing. Same tube diameter, tube thickness, c's. The difference is the bigger center section on the 44 housing. So all of the strength upgrades you would consider for a d30, guess what? You will also need to consider them for the 44. (the 44 has better internals, not housing.)

Labor seems to be the deciding factor on whether to build or go aftermarket. If you can weld and set up gears, upgrading a stock housing makes a lot more sense. If you can't, add up all the costs and do a side-by-side comparison. (ie. buying a rubi44, then paying for gears and labor, gussets and labor, truss and labor, sleeves and labor, chromo shafts, etc., could easily put the price tag over a brand new PR or Tera unit)

Come up with a realistic view of your needs, a budget you can live with, and do your homework.

 

X a billion million trillion