i nearly ground through my minitruck front axle with rock gouges before i finally added some plate to it, dented the diff cover portion of it once. did manage to rip open my rear axle housing from a bound up joint on a trackbar, but that was an easy fix.
i think toyota figured "good enough for a frame, good enough for an axle" because the frames are all light, they also tear often.
BUT!! it isn't a big deal

to save a hundred pounds or so, it would be worth considering using a 3/16" ~3" tube if you do end up hacking together an axle out of parts, just get/make some size bigger-ers or smaller-ers as needed to get the C and the diff housing on