well if what he is doing warrants the purchase of a "trail rig" as to not damage the new RUBICON <- incase you missed that, or maybe you don't know what a rubicon is??
Well, I am certainly aware of what a Rubicon is and in fact I really don't consider them that "tough" a vehicle. I personally pulled one out of a snow bank with a broken front u joint. How you break a u joint on snow I will never know.
In any case. All good suggestions from everyone. adkm1009, a lot of what I am going to suggest here is personal opinion, take it for what it is worth
One thing that I have become a firm believer in as others have suggested is to make sure that you can use the truck. I am a victim of upgrade burnout. Going so crazy with a trail rig that you and up with a pile of parts that you cant wheel because it takes you 2+ years to get stuff done, meanwhile you cant wheel.
I now have a rig that is ready to wheel at the drop of a hat and is not totally insane. It has 4 inches of suspension lift, 35 inch tires with bone stock half ton axles. The rule of thumb for me on this rig is if it takes longer than a weekend to do the mod, it does not get done. Work on it in stages with an emphasis on keeping it drivable.
Given what you are describing for the trails that you want to run I would suggest tires in the 33 to 35 inch range and a slight lift. The axles that you have under the truck now will hold up reasonably well as long as you are not a skinny pedal mad man
Now, having just said that, they don't call the Gov-lok a gov-bomb for nothing. They are notoriously weak and would probably be my first upgrade after tires and lift.
This is where you will need to make some decisions. I would not throw much $ at the 10 bolt in the back. I would choose a relatively easy upgrade path.
Do you want to stay 6 lug rims or go to 8 lug?
If you choose to stay 6 lug look for a 14 bolt semi-floater axle out of a 3/4 ton suburban. It is a good step up from the 10 bolt gov-bomb and is a bolt in upgrade that with good planning an be accomplished in a day. Disk brake conversions are available as well as a reasonable selection of lockers.
If you want to go 8 lug a whole new world will open up to you that will enable you to upgrade all the way to 1 ton axles in small reasonable stages.
The first step in that upgrade path is to find a 14 bolt full floater out of a 3/4 ton pickup. This axle is a bolt in deal as well and will give you the ultimate rear end for strength. The axle has a good selection of gears and lockers available as well. Also, they are dirt cheep and widely available.
Along with the rear end you will need to convert your front end to 8 lug. This consists of acquiring all the parts from the spindle out on a 3/4 ton truck. these parts will bolt right on to your current 10 bolt front end and convert it to 8 lug for not too much $. These parts are easy to come by.
Later on, when you have a well producing $ tree in your back yard you are totally ready to spend a bunch you can put a dana 60 1 ton axle in front.
The 14 bolt full floater and 8 lug conversion is a project that with proper planning can be done in a weekend.
Also, hats off to thinking about safety first. Definitely get the roll cage, seats and belts that you mentioned. Once again all things that can be accomplished in a weekend and will keep the family safe.
Hope that helps you figure out what path you want to take with the rig.
Cheers,
Rufus
. I've called that the "insta-bolt" mod over in Rene's thread...
