Stop living in a shit ass state with a ton of snow and salted roads and your shit wont rot out lol. My truck literally looks brand fucking new inside and out, top to bottom. I guarantee most of the mechanical issues y’all experience up there (brakes, u-joints, front end parts, shocks, etc) are severely accelerated by the salt on the roads. As far as the trans and rear, you’ve said many times that your brother “drives it like he stole it” or something very similar. Of course if you beat on it you’re gonna break shit, although I’m not entirely sure how you fuck up the rear end in one of these trucks as it’s the 11.5" AAM 14 bolt, same as they use in the Chevys which is a pretty beefy and mostly bulletproof rear axle if properly maintained. As far as the trans, his would have the 48re, which is the shittier 4 speed auto which never did have a good reputation so no surprise there. Mine has the newer 68re which is the 6 speed auto and has a much better reputation for lasting in these trucks.