For a 9 inch to be stronger then a dana 70 it has to be upgraded to at least 35 spline. but that cost a lot of money. I think a dana 60 would be stronger for cheaper. The 9 inch does offer more ground clearance then the dana 60. You could always shave the 60's front and rear. Then you could have the same ground clearance as a dana 44 which isn't all that bad. If you go the money you could alwasy go the best of both worlds. You could build up a shaved high pinion dana 60 front with 35 spline. then in the rear you could build a high pinion 9 inch with 35 spline shafts too.