I love the 4.11's and can't believe that they are not as strong as stock. I got mine from Bill as a complete third member (locker and gears installed) and they haven't given me any trouble at all over the last year and a half. I think that most people that have higher gears have them becuase they have bigger tires maybe lockers,bumpers, sliders, racks, winches or in other words a lot of extra do-dads and modifications that can add extra stress and weight to thier rig. On top of that you would hope (since they have sunk a small fortune into it) they USE the truck for trail rides and not to curise the streets. So,all that is going to add much more stress to the entire drive train especially the axle's and R&P gears which can cause breakage. Add to this the people that install the gears themselves or have someone who isn't qualified to do a good job install the gears for them and that leaves a lot of room for error. I understand that people want to work on there own rigs and I do eveything I feel I can handle myself but unless your have installed gears and are good at it it will be worth your time, money and peace of mind to leave it to the professionals. I guess what I'm saying is sure they might break but heavy, modified trucks driven hard off road are not going to run trouble free like a honda accord commuter car. So do everything right the first time keep it well maintained and be prepared to reach for your walet if you plan on using it.
but i'm learning. In my case I believe that the r&p was stressed days, weeks months before it broke. I like to try to make it up open diff. and if I can't then I lock the rear and try and if I need to I lock the front. I can only think of one time at Wheeler Lake when ichould have stressed the 3.54 gears. 3 or 4 months later they let go as I started from a stop sign. With my 4.11's I can't think of a place that I stressed them but the broke on a flat dirt road starting from a stop. I feel that if I start to lockup when I know i'm not going to make it first try then that may relieve the amount of momentom (SP) and the shock from slack in the drive line. If I am part way up a hill and roll a little back or get stopped and have to give alot of gas to make it up maybe that is the cause of stress? Like I said I am learning. I think you said you do some trails but mostly a DD right? The 4.11 are nice on 70 with the bigger tires. I think that Bill's 4.11's are as strong as any. Try them and see. Max
