And even if the weight is that much of a difference (which its not), at least you're adding weight at the axle and not at the body
-- for off-camber situations.
One major downside to the 3/4-ton D44 is its lug pattern -- which you'll have to match it in the rear so, without going to drilled rotors/shafts and adapters, this limits you to only a few rear axles (sterling, 14b, and the higher dana's). And these rear axles, which are often full-floating 1-tonners, are a lot heavier than their smaller cousins and are just a pain to move around the floor. In addition, an 8-lug D44 has a bigger rotor than the 6 or 5 lugged versions -- which means you have to be careful when using a 15" diameter wheel because the calipers might interfere (I'm using 2.5" backspacing and there's maybe 1/8" clearance - but plenty of people are running this setup and no problems at all).
As far as strength wise, I dont think there is any benefit because I doubt there are many people on here that have bent a 1/2-ton axle tube. So I'm not sure I'd look at the 3/4-ton D44 and say that its stronger than the 1/2-ton version. The weakness of the D44 is always in its axle shafts and u-joints .. and both the 1/2-ton and 3/4-ton use the same u-joints and have the same axle shaft diameter so strength wise, they are the same (they both have the same exact point of failure).
So far, the major positive thing I've seen with using an 8-lugged 44 initially is that, because it forces you to go with an 8-lug rear axle, it sets you up for an easy D60 transition as you'll already have 8-lugged wheels and rear axle
. And yes, 15" wheels with 3" backspacing will fit a SRW D60 without interference issues. So when you're sick and tired of popping U-joints, destroying the axle shaft's yoke's, and snapping axle shafts, the transition is slightly easier and less costly
If I start breaking stuff with the 37's I'll just go back to 35's probally.
