benefits are:
1) significantly improved steering lock which also has the correct geometry - ie. the inside wheel turns further than the outside wheel, so that it can follow a tighter radius when cornering. This is how it's done on Tamiya's USA style rigs. I think it was out of laziness or cost saving Tamiya didn't do this on the style trucks and put the track rod infront of the axle so steering doesn't work anything like as well; and
2) front mounted servo means fewer linkages and therefore significant reduction in steering 'slop'.
you need the bent track rod so that it clears the gearbox, especially when the suspension compresses. This is what I've done on my Scania:
