Shiiiiiiiiitttttttyyyyyyy. Good on you for riding that one out.
I have been having good results with KMC 510H chains. That H stands for Heavy. Their side plates are a lot thicker than regular 1/8" chains, so much so that I had to dremel 1.5 mm out of my chainbreaker to make it fit.
http://www.9star.com/browse/style/67...=1&show=images