Well its kinda a no brainier really!! 1st gen is the way to go. Year 85 cause you will have the 22re for sure and solid axle (biggest plus) and the top comes off like said above! The 22re will run and stay running no matter wat angle you happen to be at upside down.
The solid axle, which i cant believe has not been mentioned will save you time and money from doing a SAS and you will have leaf spring in the front. NO IFS up front and NO SAS later down the road. the IFS just can't handle the rock,s or deep snow! Lifting it will be easy and you can modify the front a little to get a little more greatness out of it. Hy steer falls into the solid axle also and so does the list of other goods wit the solid axle just to name a few! Now the top we all know comes off in the summer for summer wheeling and goes on in the winter for winter wheeling. With the opsion of the top coming off it gets lighter also and tops off is great!
Plus if ya get a 1st gen they come wit the stock roll bar thing in the rear which is siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick..
Now were talking for rock crawling right??? HA HA Good luck though on your choice man!
