Why did I do it? There is no legitimate reason why, at all. An additional inch of ground clearance at this point means nothing. I was just really happy with the Patagonias and felt I could get away with a 40" set.
Patagonia Impressions Thus Far
No tire will ever match up to the KO2 for me, but until BFG starts manufacturing tires that are true to size and/or makes an A/T tire that's 40" (neither of which will happen), I'm perfectly happy with the Patagonias. They are relatively quiet on the road in that they are not loud enough to annoy the driver and sound nothing like a typical M/T at low mileage.
My only concern is winter weather performance. I think they'll get by, but not without some puckered moments on I-70 this winter. There's just too much space between the tread blocks for them to perform that well in typical road snow. However, the off-road performance is on point and the tire is true to its intended design.
Tire Weight - 40 vs 37/38
Though tire size itself can impact component wear, I'm mostly concerned about weight. 40s are thought to be no-go for Dana 44 axles, and that may prove to be true, but a lot of people seem to be getting by with them. Naturally, driving style has a major impact, and I've always been a cautious crawler, never flooring it and spinning my way up a rock face.
For those reasons, I feel relatively confident that I can look to tire weight as a primary guide for just how safe a set of 40s will be. Consider these tire weights (ordered by weight):
33" Stock Falkens - 63lbs
37" BFG KO2 - 71.5lbs
38" Patagonia - 76lbs
40" Patagonia - 82.5lbs
37" Toyo MT - 84lbs
37" Nitto Trail Grappler - 85lbs
Most 40" tires - ~105lbs
Note: Various sources used for this information - consider these approximate figures.
So, let's recap this - the word on the street is that Dana 44s can handle 37s, but some very common 37s weigh even more than 40" Patagonias. The Patagonias come in more than 20lbs lighter than many other 40" tires. So, can we reasonably conclude that this set of 40s might survive on Dana 44s? For now, I'll say yes.
Axles and Upgrades
Even though I'm feeling relatively comfortable running these 40s, there's always the chance of disaster on the trail, and it's irresponsible to ignore that. After some surgeries, I won't be wheeling much for the rest of the year. So, over the 20/21 winter, I intend to upgrade to the RCV shafts, chromoly rear shafts, and eventually truss the axles.
Gears: The only reason I even considered the tire change was because I had my hands on some 5.13s. I'll be surviving for about 4 days on 4.10s with the 40s but will be swapping for the 5.13s next week and am expecting great things. Side note: I got quotes as high as $2,500 for labor only in the Denver area. Found 2 places in the Golden/Arvada area billing for 10 hours, which was a fraction of the cost with other companies. Email me or DM on IG if you want the details.
Lights and Fender Chop: I've got some American Adventure Labs LEDs on order, too. But, it looks like those are indefinitely on backorder and they don't have an ETA on when these will start shipping again (as of 9/2). If it doesn't look like I have to have them, I may cancel that order. In any case, the Rugged Ridge fender liners are an excellent upgrade to free up some room in the wheel wells, albeit a painful install with horrible instructions (note: I also had to cut a lot to make room for the Falcon shocks).
Steering: The only other absolute necessity is the Synergy Track Bar and Sector Shaft Brace. I've had one on order for months and they have remained out of stock everywhere. After the 38s, the steering needed some help. A Falcon 2.2 stabilizer was immensely helpful, but the Synergy brace is still necessary to address one of the root causes. After that brace is on, I'll look into a track bar, drag link, ball joints, etc.
Lift: TBD, but I may be adding a 0.5" spacer to the front springs to gain a little more clearance. I'll have to do some testing first and see if it's worth the effort. The spacers themselves cost next to nothing.