The drain plug is on the side and is flush against the reinforced casting of the drain port. It likely does not weaken the axle housing in any way judging by the looks of it. Where the plug is located, it would be hard to hit it with a rock in a way that would deform it enough to keep it from coming out. There are much more at risk components under a gladiator than a diff drain plug.
The rear was decently located, the fronts were the real problem. The service interval is long enough that every fluid change should include a visual inspection of the gears. Therefore it's simply an unnecessary part and a threaded boss has got to be weaker than a solid casting, even if it's marginal.
Yea, the front drain is at 6 o'clock, an easy spot to damage. I just changed both diffs fluid at 40k miles and drains were nice to have. I will probably change it again much sooner just because it's so quick and easy to do. I will probably never put my jt through anything that will come close to testing those castings but Iam sure there's someone out there has or will. Definitely a place for a stress crack.
JKs all had drain plugs on the lower sides of diffs and IIRC the earliest JLs & JTs had them. Probably deleted for cost saving reasons. Apparently they now have a reusable cover gasket. Adds someone to a fluid change.
