Cougar, I too like desert racing, and rockcrawling. Somthing about pitching the back out around a big long curve in the middle of the desert just makes me smile...     I could see trussing it, cause bent tubes are definely no fun. In fact I was on the way up to my friends house friday, and as I was bouncing along his 9 mile long dirt drive way to the middle of narnia,  I started wondering how hard the potholes and massive washboard is at 50mph on my rear axle    His roads the closest thing i got to dirt racing unless i pack my ass up and head to Nevada, so I tend to have my fun, go fast, and get a lil' sideways... 
What kind of hard abuse did you put to the axle when you realized your tubes were bent?
Do you think some hard washboard could bend em?