are the axle sleeves and gussetts the way to go or should I wait to get prorock

 

what's your tire size? how soon do you plan to get prorocks? how often do you wheel?

 

37 inch tires, wheel quite a bit, just thought if the sleeves and gussets were bout as strong as the pro rock what was the point on spending extra money

 

I've heard from alot of people/places the sleeves arent REALLY necessary? I guess they are more a peace of mind?

 

I have sleeves and gussets, when I have the money I will buy a real axle (or when the current beefed up one breaks *hint hint*)

Sleeves were introduced when axle tubes were bending, just as gussets were used when people realized the Cs bend so easily. After that the weak point becomes the axle shafts, then the ring and pinion. It's up to you and your situation on what is really necessary.

 

Unless you wheel really hard sleeves and gussets should be fine

 

I added the JKS front track bar bracket...it really here's up the front axle...it sorta sits on there like a small truss...I am really pleased with it.

 

Even with the sleeves and gussets the modified stock housing is much weaker than ProRock.
The axle sleeves add roughly 35% strength. The ProRock 44 Unlimited adds 182% strength.
The added caster of the Unlimited is a big feature too as it allows you to get your steering caster angle back to stock (or better).
Check out the pics shown below. The tube comparison pic shown is the ProRock with 5/16" tube, not the 1/2" wall tube used in the Unlimited. You'll also see why the ProRock doesn't need gussets.

 

so it depends on how soon can you afford the PR44's - if you do it now, you can swap all your current parts into the PR44 and save some money versus waiting for yours to get damaged and have to replace additional components (depending on damage). IMO, if you have to wait a year or longer and you wheel often, I'd beef it up. add up the costs of replacing damaged parts with PR44 versus beefing up now and swapping everything out -see how it balances out.

 

Some numbers put out by ORE and R-SE :


As noted above, the numbers for the PR44 are significantly higher, with the added benefit of the caster/pinion correction. If your budget will allow, this is definitely the better way to go.