I will state it again.
Really strong 1/2 ton rear ends don't exist.
If you must stay 6 lug, find a 14bolt semi-floater.
This axle has a larger carrier and larger axle shafts.
IMO, 10bolt and 12bolt axles should never have been offered as
rear axles. They are pathetically weak and tragically unsafe.
IMO, the Semi-Floating rear axle design is dangerous. I am not very comfortable knowing if an axle shaft breaks on the trail, much less on the highway, my wheel will fall off...completely destroying the quarter panel and possibly causing an accident. Given the weight of our fullsize vehicles, they just do not hold up to even mild abuse.
GM was aware of this and first tried upgrading the size of the pinion shaft in the 10 bolt vs the 12 bolt. 12 bolts commonly broke the pinions. Check the specs.
GM then tried to "beef" the 10bolt by going to 30spline axle shafts in 1989. The first pic shows the the 2 diff carriers. As you can see, they didn't change the carrier- other than boring the axle shaft hole larger to accept the larger shaft. This moved the failure prone item from the axle shaft to the carrier...as shown in the second pic. When the carrier fails, it destroys the ring and the pinion gears. This example was from a 1990 30sp 10bolt rear axle running 33" tires that saw muddy fields for offroad experiences. I swapped the entire setup out for a (slightly) more predictable 28 sp for the CK5 member.
Put a full case locker in it, FF it, do whatever you want...but, put an oversize tire on it and stress it only mildly and
it will fail. Pinions will break. Ring gears will spit teeth. Open carriers will spit spider gears and of course, axle shafts will break.
Save your time, money & trouble and go with the 14BSF if you must stay 6 lug. If you can go 8 lug, go for the 14BFF. The 14BFF is extremely affordable, extremely easy to work on, extremely safe and extremely strong. You will even get a much superior braking system.
For me, this is a dead issue. You can argue all day long about how to build a 10/12 bolts but the fact remains: they all suck.
NOTE: I typed this information only to back up my opinion. EVERYONE has a story, anecdote, or opinion on the 10/12 bolts. Good luck to you whatever you use.