Heres the situation. I am ready to pour the cash into my axles for new gears (so I can actually take advantage of the overdrive trans) and lockers (for obvious reasons), but the only reason I still haven't done so, is because I am very lenient about pouring money into the M20/23 rear end, and it just not being strong enough. I am OK with spending extra money to make the Dana 44 front work if needed (Jantz Eng. Jana K4 kit, upgraded axles, etc) just to make it strong enough, but the rear 20 has me worried. I don't plan on really over zealous wheeling, but I do have enough power to twist that axle pretty easily in the right situation, and Id like to play at the dunes, which would mean possible air time from time to time... So it would require a lot of upgrade work, IMO.
So, do I just bit the bullet and spend the money on it, or do I look for another option? Well, I have been looking for other options and haven't found much. I don't need TONs at this point. I am on 33s now, and if my axles were stouter, I would go right to 35s, with the hope to one day go to 37s. I don't want to go full width, as I don't want to deal with the extra width, although I guess I could go a little wider. If I could find a set of J20 axles, I think I could make them work, but so far, no luck.
So other options I have found would be a custom 9 inch. Sorta something between the M20 and 1 Ton, but the cost doesn't really line up with the end result, especially since getting it to 6 lug is an issue.
So I came across the 6-lug Semi Float Dana 60 (which I didn't know existed) that apparently came in late 60s GMC 1/2 ton trucks with Big Blocks. Its the right width, and would work, but I guess is really rare to find (and I don't have any good junk yards near me, so the chance of finding one is low). First heard it was a thing watching Matts Offroad Recovery (gotta check out this Youtube channel BTW!):
https://youtu.be/W1LmP25f4aE
He is using this style of narrow SF Dana 60 to match a Wagoneer D44 front on his XJ recovery rig.
And then I found a guy on eBay selling a narrowed Dana 60 housing that I "think" I could make work into a pretty nice narrow Dana 60 setup, but Im not really familiar with the ends he has welded on the ends, so Im not sure what to look for to make a 6-lug setup that will work in my rig.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Narrow-Dana-60 ... %7Ciid%3A1
I figure the cost isn't far off of finding a local Dana 60 and getting it narrowed and having Ford 9-inch bearing ends welded on or something, to make it work. Any axle experts have any advice on this thing for me? Or any other options for a good middle of the road starting place for an axle to dump some money into, larger than a M20 and smaller than a 14 bolt?
Thanks!