RE: Are aluminum parts really more durable than stock plastics?
Well i've had alot of aluminum parts in the past, my last T maxx was almost all aluminum, and i've had alot of trucks that were just stock plastic or upgraded to RPM arms and such so heres my opinion.
I think certian aluminum parts do help to add strength, such as shock towers or the aluminum skids that screw over the stock plastic skids like the one i just put on my Revo. Aluminum bumpers look great and in a minor hit they will protect the truck when a plastic one would snap in half....but for a higher speed hit they will bend for sure no matter how good the quality of them.
I'd say shock towers&skids that go over the stock skids are fine to replace with aluminum but arms (which i had on my maxx) "look" great but will bend and be very costly to replace.
An all aluminum truck looks great but adds some heft to the truck also.