the auto sway disconnect on the rubi's are a joke, and the aftermarket lockers are a lot stronger than the OEM lockers, plus easier to work with. the front 30 and the 44's are identical except when it comes to axle shafts and ring gear. for someone who is not looking at turning their jeep into a rock crawler (which is what the rubicon is directed towards) its money that could be better spent elsewhere. you could buy front and rear lockers, a Atlas transfercase and tires for cheaper than upgrading to a rubicon and still be ahead.
my suggestion would be to keep your jeep. sell your rims and tires and jump down to 17's and grab 33x11.50 or 33/12.50 tires, probably an aggressive allterrain for you, like a goodyear Duratrac. get an on-board air compressor or a C02 setup. get a front Currie Antirock sway bar. put a aussie locker in the front until you can decide whether you want to pursue f/r lockers.
a used aussie locker can be had for around $250 bucks, all it does is replace your spider gears so its a really easy swap, and it will benefit you greatly in the sandy washes the UP has, as well as in snow. the anti-rock is an offroad oriented sway bar. its designed to flex offroad and provide stability, while also being stable on the street. its a very unique design. i run them in the front and the rear of my JK - i rock crawl.
you can beef the front axle up very easily by throwing a truss on (Artec has a new, very awesome easy to add on truss) or put axle tube sleeves in, or both. another weakness is the inner C's. they make gussets for those. if you were to put axle tube sleeves in, and C gussets your front axle would be miles ahead stronger than a JK44 as it stood all for $160 in parts..?
if you're dead set on the 4/1 transfercase of the rubicon, give advance adapters a call for their Atlas II transfer case. its so strong it makes the NP241OR of the rubi look like a tinker toy.
