Custom shafts are worth checking out but my main concern is whether the casting is designed to be the weak link in the front drive. Changing the passenger side axle out was a six-hour job, so a CV swap is far preferable. Unless we have access to the Jeep designers, the only way to find out is by experience. Any suggestions?

One of my buddies on the run thought that the casting looked 'pretty coarse-grained' for such a critical part. I think I will pursue a conversation with the folks at NAPA tomorrow just to see what they suggest. There are no exposed vendor part numbers on my spare shaft that I could see. I wish now that I had saved the pieces from the original OEM part to compare.