On the best truck to by... hummmmmmmm, my vote would go to converting a 1/8 scale nitro monster truck, you can really bash those things and they hold up well. I wil be converting an aftershock, cheapy version of the lst2. If you like truggys the 8t seems popular, not sure about truggys.
Are those tupperware shocks of the aftershock any good?
Good enough that a lot of the pro racers replace the lst al shock bodies with them, mainly for weight reduction. I have freind who has had a nitro aftershock for a while and has had no shock problems. I had a look at a shock body and it is quite thick and does not distort easily under hand pressure.