Is a deeper pan worth it?

Yeah, and they are mighty proud of them too. I got a steel pan from A&A for a better price. Also installed a large cooler up front!
I slammed mine on a manhole cover a couple years ago, hard enough that it broke the front u-joint, but only made a small scrape mark in the pan. I fully expected that pan to be cracked after the impact, but amazingly it was fine.