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.