[Brent]

I think it is a hard thing to directly compare. The G-wagen axles are pretty strong though. Harald P. ran a couple of 460 G's over the Rubicon for a few years on 35's. I do not recall hearing about a failure. Mike S. has also been running 35's on a couple of different 460's for a few years without any reported failure. My 280GE needed a CV replacement at 105k miles but that I think was just wear and tear over 20 years. I am now going to run 35's and have no concerns over the axle or CV strength. The CV's are pretty huge for a 150hp truck, the ring and pinion while a smaller diameter look easily as beefy as a Dana 60 and are reportedly made from much higher quality steel. There are no aftermarket upgrades, I don't think any are needed. I have never heard of a G-wagen driveline failure, not even a broken u-joint from hard trail use. The only problem with the 463 is a lack of lower gearing. The combination of big tires, stock gears and low engine power (unless you have a G500) make wheeling at altitude a little tricky. I have had 33's on my G320 for a couple of summers now with no ill effects. It has been going off-road at least 3 times a week now this summer. I did have the front axle service done almost two years ago though. It is a good idea to make sure you start with something healthy. The CV's just needed repacking at the time. So far no problems even with a fair amount of locker use.


I counted 31 splines on my 460 CV joint. (where the axle shafet enters the back side) I think that 463 axles are actually a little stronger than 460's as well.