I have been reading a lot about axle upgrades lately, since I will be moving up to 37" tires soon (2dr Rubi). Of course I don't want to bend and/or break anything.

It seems that most emphasis is placed on the front, with lots of parts available to improve the strength. But I see very little about the rear. Does it simply not get stressed as much since you don't have steering to deal with?

I am already getting gussets and sleeves installed in the front.
My "wheeling" style is light to moderate, mostly exploring in the woods or playing at the beach. I'm not into any crazy hill climbs, boulder climbing, rock crawling, or anything like some of you nut cases do ().

I guess I'm trying to figure out why there is so little attention paid to upgrading the rear, and if I should get upgraded shafts as well as the gussets/sleeves.

I don't like cutting corners and doing things cheaply, so if I need them I will get them front & rear, but I also don't want to waste the money if it's pointless.

Thanks for any insights... sorry for the long post!

 

The D44 rear tubes are thicker than the fronts plus there are no Cs to bend. The rear shafts are also stronger. It's the combination of all of these that make people beef up the front and ignore the rear axle. You should be good with 37s on the rear 44 and the only thing you might consider upgrading is the stock shafts. Given your description of off-road use I would not even do that.

 

i would like to know the same thing- i want to upgrade to 37's on my 2 door wrangler x.. very little off roading

 

IMHO,
For the X you will definately need to upgrade your front axle, since it is a 30 instead of a 44 to start with. Even the 44's should get a little help in front for the 37 inchers.