New Durango DEX410V3

[wacattack]

Me just hypothesising reasons for the outdrive position and a shorter shaft...

...there is likely to be less strain on the slipper outdrive. A drive shaft when rotating wants to push out from the axle rather than stay linear to the axle, so a shorter shaft will have less force (laws of moments) trying to push the shaft outwards when in the outdrive.

...it could also be to do with the flex point of the chassis. The closer the entry of the outdrive is to the middle of the chassis the more movement potential and hence the shaft to pop out in extreme impact situations. Therefore moving it results in less chance of this occurring.