I've been reading about the common toyota axle swap, but I was wondering....

If all I wanted was a ride that could play in the mud and snow and the occasional easy trail, are the stock axels ok with lockers and gears ?? Also, can they be beefed up at all and if so, how ??  Thanks for any input guys, you've all been a lot of help so far!!

Kevin

Generally speaking, large heavy tires (over 32 inches) are what destroys Samurai axles.

Keep it in the 31-32" range and they hold up well if you don't go totally crazy offroading it.

As insurance, you can buy Birfield rings that fit onto the outside of the Birfield cups on the front axle shafts.  These strengthen the Birfield joint so it does not "explode" easily when overloaded by applying full power with the wheels turned to either extreme.

You can also buy tougher aftermarket Birfield axles for your front Samurai axle.

Check the vendors listed here and at izook.com for these axle products.  I fergit who sells them.

The next step after that are Toyota axles.

Trail tough sells there beefed up axles
called "double tuff axles" they are said to be pretty strong.
As for the axle housing, i have heard people say that with heavy off roading they can bed and start to sag.  You can get all sorts of axle trusses for the housing to prevent.

Amilla

alright im new but i just bought a sammy and i know a kid who is about to take his axels out of his big K5 (38in boggers). he said hed sell them both to me. Will they work?

Anything can work, but full width axles are really going to limit you on some trails.  They are simply too wide.

Lockers are going to tear up your front axles as well, just because of the extra strain.  If you put an ARB up front that will allow you to leave your front end unlocked most of the time and put less  force on your birfields.

If your serious about putting 35" and up tires on your Zuki, I would recommend just going straight for Toyota or after market axles.  The only reason I still have Zuki axles is I've put enough into them that it's now worth the small incremental upgrades.  Once I finally break a stock birfield with my 33" tires I'm swapping out for the Newfield front axles.  Almost 600 a pair, but lifetime warranty.