I only mentioned the trucks that I did because he said that he is "not one to sacrifice quality for price."

Really, it all depends on what you want it for. If you just want a bashing truck, then you have all sorts of options. The Monster GT is a good tough truck (although not a racer) and I converted mine in a couple of hours using nothing but aluminum angle and plate with my drill press and hack saw.

I have found that bashers don't really need to be tougher. I've found that race trucks need to be tougher. If you break a part on a basher, you just stop for a couple of minutes and fix what broke. With a race truck, it has to be able to withstand the rigors of all out racing and NOT break (as easily anyway).

You'll also want to consider the availability and price of replacement parts. My jaw just about dropped when I found out that a complete set of arms for my 8ight was over $30, when it's half that for my Sportwerks vehicle. The up side is that I haven't broken any arms, yet.