Is a 7.25 rear strong enough?

It seems that the days of going to the junk yard and finding a 8.75,9 inch or 12 bolt for $50-$100 are gone. At least ,where I live they are.

long gone, amigo. maybe a local private yard would be better but the corporate yards here in socal are just miserable. a complete 8.8 is almost 300 w/o the brakes and that's before they stick you with the bullshit warranty. and there's no discussion about the price once the cashier has set it, either.

on top of that, good luck finding a half decent 8" or 9" let alone a 8.75