I really like this idea. I have a fondness for scale type builds. Have you ever poked around on scale4x4rc? There are lots of good builds there on prerunner type trucks, with live rear on 4 links, and IFS.

I have this tamiya cc-01 touareg that I have modded pretty heavily. I've had thoughts of building a 4wd corr truck using that and 1/8 buggy front end. Again, the diff ratio's are what always held me off....

Sounds awesome :). I'll keep an eye on this one...