Never heard anything bad about using one piece, other than with less weight it won't be as smooth a drive as the stock super-heavy unit.
I had a shop make me a one piece aluminum and just gave them the stock one to copy. Seems like my new one could've been 1" -1.5" longer, like he over compensated for live-axle plunge that's not there anyway. I haven't noticed any problems with it though. Of course I don't make enough power, or have enough traction if I did, to twist any splines.
My somewhat unrelated question: Will I need to change length or front yoke when I swap from W58 to R154?
I haven't checked to see if they're different, and planning to swap as soon as I find a good deal on a decent trans.