Ok, If I was to aquire a mint 2001 Hard Top Jeep

[zzzz]

Yeah I was browsing those forums. You guys get a whole site to yourself

The other thing I noticed on the site was a thread called "GU diffs into a TJ". That makes me wonder if I am better off whacking a 5 link front end in the shorty and leaving it at that.

With 33's and Air Lockers am I going to break things ? My old man has a rangie with 33's and no maxi drive or uprgraded driveline components (yet ) and it seems every adventure out into the scrub he breaks something. I can absolutely THRASH the shorty and not even look like breaking something. Breaking things makes wheeling a sad un-fun event.

So basically with that setup, what is weak in these things ?

33's and lockers with the stock running gear should be fine.
The weakest link is the front dana30 axle.
It has a worse reputation than it should, and it has been proven to stand up to 35's in Aus with great success.

You can buy some spare inner and outer axle shafts for it, with the unis already installed. Then even if it breaks you can swap it out on the trail.
Cost for a pair can be as low as US$150 from the states. Bit more locally.

Really with 33's you will be fine.
The axles are weaker when at full lock and putting the foot down so just keep that in mind. Same as a CV basically...

[jeep97tj]

Most people on ausjeep just run standard axles with very few probs and quite a few are running locked 33, 35 and 36 and 37" tyres. As long as u are not super rough and bounce the front end while your foot is flat to the floor and steering at full lock 33s and lockers will be fine, because the D30 has unis on the front axles (as aposed to CVs) the more lock u have on the steering the weaker they become, so the axles are alot stronger in the straight ahead position than at full lock. If u do break one they are about $100, 6 bolts and 30min to replace and u wont even get any oil or grease on your hands.

The talk about nissan diffs was to run 38+ tyres

[Wooders]

The talk about nissan diffs was to run 38+ tyres

But in all seriousness the stock TJ diffs will cope with 33's no probs whatsoever.....I wouldn't say I'm gentle on my TJ and with 35-36" tyres of the past 4 years I'm had bugger all probs.....