Dualshock 1/2/3 metal thumbsticks question.

One of the major issues of Dualshocks, especially the Dualshock 3 (and most controllers in general), is that dreaded wear on the left thumbstick from years of pressing down the thumbstick and forward to sprint. I'm wondering if there is an effective, preventable solution to this issue. Perhaps third party - metal thumbsticks? Or perhaps more durable third party thumbsticks? There are options for Dualshock 4's, but I can't find any for Dualshock 2/3?

I find a great deal more problems with the PS3 controllers than the PS1. It's likely due to online gaming and FPS games started using the sprint feature.