Thanks Ernie...probably while you were typing your reply I was on the phone with a fellow at Beechhurst, who was quite helpful. He was crystal clear in his advice that given a choice, go with regular steel cables over stainless. He said the failure mode of these cables is "work hardening" and not corrosion typically (unless in some very specific and unusual applications) and there is no question that regular steel is the way to go. He quoted all kinds of examples (different aircraft) where fleets were having exactly this issue with stainless cables (he kept calling it "CRES" cable for Corrosion Resistant Steel) and where the fleet operator switched to regular steel and solved their ongoing maintenance issues. He mentioned Cessna Caravans as one that came to mind, but he had others. In doing a little more research via my good friend google, came upon this:
http://www.mechanicsupport.com/aircr...able_wear.html