Never had a problem with the 10 or 12 WD drives I've had/still have in use.
My original 10MEG, full height MFM drive that I bought second-hand for about $150 in 1990 or so is the only drive I've had die before I upgraded (I lost some Pascal and C programs). Although drives are rated MTBF, I've been lucky.
My host backs up my servers each night, so thats a plus..
*knock on wood*
SplitInfinity, you need to buy some clockworks now and build yourself a new shop clock outta that trashed disk and dead heads! :D