Gear upgrade advice on 7.25 axle with 2:76 gears
If I increase the torque converter will that increase the likelihood of damage to the axle, as that appears the weak link.
Only if you abuse it by doing one wheel-peels, neutral-drops, and or if you take off on pavement with the the throttle wide open, every stinking time, lol.
If yur driving a lot of gravel, using a lot of throttle, you absolutely need to tie the two wheels together with some type of Limited-Slip.
In any differential, when one wheel spins, it rotates at double the other, and all the torque is going thru those little planetaries. But worse is that the planetaries are now spinning on the Cross-pin, which has no bushings nor bearings; it's metal on metal, with a thin film of oil that nobody can guarantee you is gunna stay there. When it boils, that's when chit happens.
Also, every time you hammer the gas, then back off, Engine-braking is slamming the planetaries back and forth on the cross-pin.
And, those little rear-ends hate shock-loads. like spinning on gravel/dirt, onto pavement. If the wheels come to a sudden halt when they hit traction, BANG!, the planetaries get a wallop! If just one is spinning at double roadspeed, there's no predicting what will happen.
The point is this, if you abuse that little rearend, it ain't gunna last long and the convertor is NOT the badguy