My recollection on the A & A gearsets - the carriers are made of steel. That alone makes them stronger than the aluminum carrier. So "weak" - I don't think I would call them that.

None of the gearesets inside the trans proper are straight cut - the only ones that were straight cut were in the OD unit. We went to helical cut (I think 15 degrees) after launch to quiet them down while operating in OD. 15 degrees OD planetary and sun gear started in 1995 on 47, the 46 retained the 22.5 degree gearset in the OD.