man that 2nd clip is mint. that rear diff is slamming up and down so hard....****ing tough machines

 

Horses for courses.

A solid axle will have one wheel push the other wheel to the ground due to the weight being evening distributed across the 'beam'. Independant is entirely reliant on lockers and also only really giving you 2 wheels for traction.

High speed desert racing/doing the same **** you can do in a 'churbo' hyundai = independant

Technical low speed climbing where you need as much tyre surface and wheel movement as you can get = live axle

 

Who is this Yom guy, he seems like some sort of troll...

;P

 

One of these bad boys would turn a simpson desert crossing into a quick day trip im guessing there wouldnt be to much sightseeing though

 

trophy trucks are rear wheel drive, they dont have a front diff assembly to have to worry about
plus they have a rear mount engine so the got alot of room between the front wheels
there worth a few hundred thou
and why wouldn't they use independent on the rear aswell if its so good?

 

yo, trophy trucks traditionally have a front mount engine, usually pushed back into the front of the cab for better weight dist. Truggies (buggies with truck bodies on them) usually have the rear mount as they have been adapted from a traditional mid or rear mount engine.

its easier to get 32+' of travel with a live axle hence the rear one on them.

 

It costs a fortune to get 20 inches out of IRS, they even custom built diffs and made the car 8 foot wide to do that. It takes a serious CV to transfer that much power and survive the shock loads.
Wheel angle changes are no big deal, you arent driving on a billiard table anyway.
It's all about compromises.

Yom.. You should come have a look at the australian version before you judge.
Here's the calendar. Go have a look and talk to some people. Take your jeep and do reconissance in 2wd and see how you go, they usually allow spectators and crews to go round because they impose an 80km speed limit for that section.
Off Road Racing - Australia - 2011 Calendar

 

2wd jeeps rock!!!

 

That would be terrifying.