A buddy has had 3 over the last 10yrs(sold or traded them all), and they have all wheeled well from slightly modified to having all the goodies. Unlike the auto w/the 3.0, the auto with the 3.4 turns large tires a lot better.
The 1st 3rd gen we installed a custom 2” BL. Trimmed the front fenders, and it cleared 305’s on 7” wide rimes. It had the oem e-locker, and wheeled pretty well.
The second 3rd gen was SAS’d with some trimming, 37’s, dual ARB’s, and dual cases.
It looked and felt tipsy on the street, felt tipsy on the trail, but my Buddy never came close to rolling. The dual cases and auto trans made it very smooth on the trail.
The last one was also an auto w/2” BL, coil spacers, trimming, and it cleared 35’s(barely).
With an ARB upfront and a spool(or welded) in the rear he ran the Rubicon last fall nothing broke, he wheels pretty hard as well. He was happy w/it and planned to keep it until someone offered to trade them for an early Bronco(he always wanted one), but like you he found his way back to a Toy.
00Rokyoat had an extensive build of his '00 Tacoma. It wheeled very well as well.
