Recommended mods to a bashing e-maxx

Hi all,

I'm very new to the hobby and have some money to invest. I bought a revo and was pretty unhappy - it just always seemed to have something wrong with it. I sold it and with part of the money bought myself a new mini-LST, I loved the ease with which it ran and how little problems it had.

That being said I'm considering an E-maxx to bash with my friends (who all own nitro vehicles). What sorts of parts/modifications should I be considering? Obviously wieght isn't as much a concern so is there a reason to use alluminum? Durability is definitely a factor to me because I dont have the technical savy (yet) to make repairs myself and will have to pester a friend to help me anytime a gear gets stripped.

Any advice pertaining to bashing with an e-maxx is greatly appreciated.