i believe the dana 44 rear came out in 82. my heep has a dana 300 in er, and she is a 81. Right now it is running a mild 350, sm 465, and stock axles (dana 30, amc 20). it is running 32s, and i never broke anything offroad. i would think with 35's and a strong engine, you would want to upgrade the axles. When i get home, i am finally going to get my scout dana 44's under it, but i am unsure if i should do a spring over at the time.
As for putting a 360 in it, you would have to swap the tranny too. Maybe grabing an old waggy would be the best way to go. you could take the drive train and axles and swap them. I've heard that that a fiero rad will fit right in and should prevent overheating.
Hope this helps.