I often read that the strength couldn't be beat when it came to a shaft style compared to pedestal. I know as far as changing out or tweaking that a pedestal wins out for ease and speed. But I'm not the guy who'd know for sure, and maybe most of the stuff I was reading was 20 years ago, or written then. And as for stainless vs aluminum, it seems people are mostly willing to risk the odd broken rocker to keep things light? Or is it a cost thing? When I bought my T&Ds for my 360-2s I honestly never thought of a stainless option or maybe didn't even know about them,,,,or equated steel with heavy. That was 5 years ago buying parts, can't recall for sure.