Back in 1986 I took the same truck through the Rubicon but it was bone stock. I beat it to death on that trip and since then I have swapped out the 2.6 for a 350 Chevy V8, Tranny is an SM 420, transfer case is an NP231 from a Jeep. I SAS the front with a High Pinion Dana 44 from a 78 Ford F-250 and the rear end is a Chevy 12 bolt. i'm running 35 inch tires.
The most important thing for my truck was the 35" tires, low crawl ratio and lockers front and rear.