I don't know where this turd polishing talk came from. It's certainly true about a D35, but not a D30. There are a bunch of well built D30's living (mostly) happy lives under real Jeeps. Yes, it's a small axle and has it's limitations, and yes it has to be built with relatively expensive parts. However, a D44 must be custom built, a HP9" with D44 outers isn't cheap, and if you're going to build a new front axle for 37's and larger it should be a D60 or a 609 which is going to be $5000+. So, for running 33's very reliably and 35's pretty reliably a well built D30 is by far the simplest and cheapest way to go. Normal trail breakage is axle shafts and joints, which can be virtually eliminated. D30 ring and pinions can break, and carriers can break, but it's not that common, and when the gears break it's almost always chipped teeth and will still get you off the trail.
As far as I'm concerned, for many XJ and TJ drivers a good set of chromo front shafts and u-joints is one of the best equipment investments they can make in their rig.