oh yeah completely and 100% agree, in most cases id advise against an "upgrade steel spur gear" because of all the wear and tear it can cause and usually the issue is caused by a problem elsewhere especially if it happens more than once. a cheap spur gear is much cheaper and easier to replace...
i know nowadays for buggy platforms with center diffs its pretty standard/common to see steel spur gears, don't know if this is partially due to the racing scene where a stripped spur gear can make or break a race so that carried over to their RTR versions or what.
typically i really advise...