I've been in RC for quite a while, but I've tended to not really look towards this corner of it because of my very strong preference for glow and gasoline power over electric. But increasingly I find myself drawn to the idea of building a trail rig anyway, perhaps even attempting to shoehorn a stonkin' great OS smallblock in the nose of something in the future(Would necessitate either a van body or modelling something like a Unimog/Tatra/Oshkosh/et-al, have eyeballed RC4WD's 6x6 Beast II and Tamiya's Globe Liner for this on more than one occasion) when I've got access to a micro lathe and micro mill to machine the mounting brackets and such.
I've got a few requirements for the axles in particular...from what research I've done it seems the rest of the parts used for these models are already plenty strong enough for what I want to do...and I'm wondering if ya'll know what I could buy to put under the rig:
* Needs to be super strong. Any RC I build is gonna be pretty quick and I'm definitely going to be cracking the throttle WFO fairly often. This goes whether I've converted it to glow or am still running electric(Likely BL). Last thing I need is to be shearing off C-hubs or cracking pumpkins wide open every time I get into the meaty end of the carb because I clipped an acorn at 35MPH. I'm not overly concerned with the strength of the rotating components, however, as I've watched plenty of them on YT shrugging off so much torque that when something binds the wheel up they sooner shear the C-hub than strip a gear or snap a driveshaft.
* I want working diffs. More of my runtime is going to be spend hauling ass than will be spent crawling around and I want it to handle reasonably well at speeds far in excess of the typical trail/scale rig. Locked diffs/spools are particularly bad about understeer and unpredictability, especially at high speeds, and that's something I'd like to avoid.
* I want to build a rig that's more in line with what a factory fresh pickup would be, insofar as ride height, so having the ability to mount the axle on top of the leaf springs instead of underneath it is a huge plus. Or, failing that, getting springs that would let the weight of the rig bring it down to the height I'm after. Lookin' to run 1.55 rims and tires no larger than a scale 33" so body rub shouldn't be a concern.
* I wouldn't object to an un-powered beam axle in the front. 2WD would be fun too, and especially challenging to try to run a trail with(And a great representation of the typical person's daily driver pickup when coupled with an open rear diff!)
* Would prefer not having to spend a small fortune on this thing. I'm...not exactly flush with cash, after all. Quality costs money but I'm not in a position to disregard sticker shock.
Any pointers for what axles to use to build the sort of rig I want to build? Lookin', ultimately, to end up with something that's great fun to blast around at high speeds, yet can do some off-roading as well, all while looking like the real thing.
Thanks for your time!