I think a snorkal is one of the most important mods you can do. Who cares how far you can go down a trail if at the first water/mud hole you suck up some water and screw your engine up....

Tires. Stock tires are really designed to ride quietly on the street. If carmakers put mud-terrains or AT's on their dealer cars, soccer mom's would probably complain that they're too loud. It would also drag down fuel economy in the EPA estimates, which are already pretty optimistic. IMHO, good tires are better than a locker, plus they give more traction on wet city streets. Next, I'd say suspension, like 2" of lift and good springs/shocks, provided you want to upgrade tires. Don't think you can't offroad with upgraded, stock-sized tires. Center of gravity is lower, giving you the edge on lateral slopes...all depends on the terrain. Remember, big tires require regearing for optimal performance, and that's $$$.

<small>[ February 24, 2003, 01:16 PM: Message edited by: James Chow ]</small>

Tires and locker in the rear. Winch is nice (I have one) but it moves wayyyyy down the list.

tires are the only thing thattouches the ground and makes your truck move. a good driver will be able to handle flexy situations without a locker so long as you cna keep most of your tires on the ground and give it some gas when necassary.
a good set of mts would be the first thing id buy. but if you plan on upgrading thsi truck in future, buy a lift first, and then a set of 33s so you arent upsizing in tires every time you lift it. its cheaper to wait a bit in the beginnign until you can afford to do the neccassary mods at once without having to sell or change now obsolete parts.

Locker in the rear.

Tires are a good move if you are nearing the time for new rubber, but the best mod that I have done to my truck by far are the lockers.

Having one MT spinning will be better than having one street tire, but lockers can make up for some bad tread and lack of flex.

Most of the 3rd gen guys are getting in to the sport because they already had a factory locker. Add tires and you can get into some nasty stuff.

Winch later, like near the last. You can get by without a winch, but nothing makes up for lockers, gears, tires and lift.

For me, it was tires:
<img src="http://pics.montypics.com/Brown/2003-02-20/31_pro_comp_tires.jpg" alt=" - " />

They have made a huge improvement so far.

Next thing I will do is a rear locker. Pretty much what everyone else is saying --not necessarily in that order, but I think most everyone would agree that those are the two best things you can do to start off with.

b/c you are in MN, I would definitely say tires. around here, all i have to off road in is mud basically, and tires are the single best improvement i have made. i got a set from wal mart that are identicle to the BIG-O tires, for only $98 each. they work great in mud or snow, i can do stuff in 2wd in the snow where ppl get stuck using 4wd. believe me, they beat a set of BFG M/T's in the snow. also, you might not want a rear locker in the snow, a true trac may be a better option.

Around Colorado, it's mostly rocks. From this perspective, I think it's:
1). swaybar disconnects
2). rear locker
3). rock sliders
Then you can already do really fun stuff while avoiding the easiest body damage and yet not slow down a group much.Here's a pic when I had ONLY the rear locker and rock sliders.
4). more aggressive tires (preferably larger tires if you also get a lift then)
5). bumpers, skidplates, other stuff as needed by the particular vehicle for protection.

I think the winch comes way down the list. It takes 100 times longer to winch you past some simple moguls or a ledge instead of just hitting the locker switch (if that's even needed) and driving through it. Yes, a winch is eventually needed once you get to the really tough stuff. But you should have the other mods as a prerequisite before you get to that point anyway. And in a group, a strap is used more often than a winch anyway.

<small>[ February 24, 2003, 06:58 PM: Message edited by: Jeff the marmot ]</small>

best mod?

join a club or a group of people who's been doing this for years.

if you and a buddy who just bought their first 4wd vehicle decide to get dirty for the very time, be careful... be very careful...

I'd say tires then sliders/bumpers ......... and always go with a friend / truck <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" />