[Ben Kallies]

I actually did break an inner axle with a Tom's -style IRS setup. When it broke on the starting line, the car made a hard right and pointed me directly at the tree. Granted, I also run a 4-speed, which is harder on parts. I've seen automatic-equipped cars run a good deal of horsepower through a Tom's setup without any trouble. I have to say however, that the IRS would hook anywhere, and I had it working pretty well - yanking the front tires a good three feet or higher. The biggest advantage to a solid axle in my opinion is less maintenence and parts availability. With a 12-bolt IRS the special ring gears are a little more difficult to come by, and are more expensive than a standard 12-bolt gear. I wanted to run a 4.30 gear at one time, and I couldn't find anyone who had one in stock. One final note: My solid axle setup is about 115 lb lighter than my IRS. Just my 2 cents. Good luck