IMO stay away from the Novak stuff. The drag brake is garbage. I prefer Tekin. A Tekin FXR speedo and the motor of your choice. I would also recommend a 35t or 45t motor.
Again, your best bet is to read up on the AX-10 on RCCrawler and see what everyone else is running. Why spend the $$$ on something not needed?
As far as breaking rod ends, replace the Axial ones with Traxxas Rustler rod ends. Traxxas part # 1942. Much stronger and direct replacement part.
