Yj's aren't a bad choice either. the option of the fuel Injected 4.0 which is a reliable power plant, and its fuel injected, and has enough power to get ya by until you get the bigger tire itch and bigger axles
you should think about replacing those axles....specially the DANA 35...in fact i would insist thats the first thing to go.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24854 has a lot of good info on the 8.8 rear swap(what i have now), reliable and cheap if you look around(most of the time)
throw a reverse pinion 44 up front, that should hold ya over till the 44inch tall tire bite gets ya, and then you can sell the axles ceap to me
the 4.0 can get more power for pretty cheap.
http://www.rockcrawler.com/techreports/stroker40/page2.asp theres a cheap way to stroke it. might be a cheaper alternative or at least work till the engine dies.
suspension wise, thats all about how much you want to spend. you can go coils and never look back(nor at the bank), or you can go with a properly setup SOA(spring over axle) and get a healthy amount of flex, just remember that will cause axle wrap issues, and you need eliminate that. a traction bar will limit the flex somewhat, but with no more axle wrap, is worth it.
Wheelbase wise, if you go coils, stretch it to 100"+, same with SOA, to get more stability.
Steering, I have a homebuilt setup from the guy I bought it from, hasn't let me down, just research this and you can most likely find writeups on it. believe 4x4wire.com has info on a lot of this and much more.
transmission, lots of ppl go with the nv4500. believe its a dodge tranny thats pretty strong and a decent choice. Advanced Adapters has them with the necessary adapters to make it work with the 4.0 and tcase you have.
T-case, lots of options. nv321s are common. I'm leaving mine alone(nv231) until i get really seriously into crawling, then im going with a dana300. advanced adapters has their atlas 2 cases, very strong/bombproof. expensive route, the dana300 is a good route, many good writeups laying around sites to get you started in the right direction. if you want to spend big big money, wait for advanced adpaters to release the new 4 speed atlas, at about 3 grand its costly,
. or the new stak 3 case, also pricey...but really cool
strengthen your roll cage! the stock cages.....i call them crush cages, cuz they suck. if you are going to be pushing it(running tougher trails), make a stronger one. can't do that? find someone who can/will. can't do that? call poison spyder customs, they have a pre-bent cage(pricey) but it will keep your family safe!
so before i go, heres a few questions:
budget, how much are we looking at, ball park figure. otherwise we just make it run on hopes and dreams, which doesn't run very well...
type of use? trails, mud, crawling, everything?
daily driver or trailer queen, or is it a drive to the trail and back while beating the stuffing out of it in between? i would suggest different axles for different requirements.
welcome to the board, hope i covered most of it, dunno tho, its late here and im tired, who knows, maybe im just talking gibberish
