I know what you mean about owning vs leasing.
Before getting my JT, I haven't had a vehicle payment in 20 years.
I put about half the purchase price down on my JT and financed the rest at 0% for 3 years. I'm still tempted to just pay it off early though.
Taking a closer look, the marks you see are on the axle tubes, not the axles themselves. Possibly from the manufacturing process and not painted very well. Shouldn't cause any mechanical problem.
I'll definitely be taking a look tomorrow after I get home from work. I wonder if those could just be tooling marks made during manufacturing?
I'll let you know what I find.
Thanks for the links.
I will research these make a decision.
Been looking at other things too.
Theses being straight plug & play makes them very attractive.
Humble Pie 30 days in the hole.
Robert Palmer Addicted to Love
Bob Seger Turn the Page
Santana I Ain't Got Nobody
Bob Seger Against the Wind
AC/DC Have a Drink on Me
Y&T Meanstreak
Lynyrd Skynyrd Ballad of Curtis Lowejust to name a few...
In case you haven't found this yet, it's something you might want to check out.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/sarge-green-gladiator-club.34455/