JR Servo problems/questions

[Sorb3t]

Has anybody had a good experience with JR servos. I bought an 8711 for my E-maxx a month ago and stripped the large metal gear inside it after 4 trips to the RC park. I run UE GenVI steering/saver and ran a $30 Bluebird in the same car for a year before without problems. I am probably going to buy replacement gears, but don't want to strip again so quickly. Is there anything I can do? Are there aftermarket gears (titanium or something) or gears from another servo I can use/adapt? I wonder if I just got a faulty gear or something. Anyone with JR servo experiences? I called JR customer service and they offered to fix it for $50 and said it was "uncommon that you stripped that gear rather than the plastic one at the bottom." What I don't get is there is a plastic gear at the bottom, that is made to be the "gear you're going to strip" if you strip one, yet they only sell it in the set with the other gears! What difference does it make which one I strip then? Why make one weaker at all? They were not helpful, although I understand why they don't warranty gears, even in my situation. I'm done venting. Anything I can do to improve my servo or chances of stripping again? How common are stripped gears?