KDK,
Yeah the front end had its limits for sure and it showed when the truck was on 36" tires. When I went bigger I converted it to 3/4 ton 8 lug outers and that helped. I still broke a couple shafts, spindles, ball joints, a coil spring with it on 42" tires. It performed best on 38 or 39" tires with the 5.18 gears I was running. I had a '78 8 lug D44 HD front axle that was built and ready to go under but all things pointed to getting out while I could.
FWIW I had FAR more problems with the 8.8" rear. I broke something almost every hard run. I swapped it out with a Corporate 14 bolt with disk brakes and custom driveshaft and that became the most reliable part of the rig.
