Originally Posted by torpex77

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Lots of good stuff here - although I don't know if I'm any closer to making up my mind.

I'm probably leaning toward lift, sliders first.

I doubt I'll wheel much by myself initially, so I can probably let the winch slide a little bit. But if I lift first, won't putting a heavy bumper and winch on affect that? Should I consider that I will eventually be putting some weight on there, or does it matter?

Originally Posted by Sum_Devl

I would look into the rock rails 1st, I really like the ones LoD is starting to produce.

Originally Posted by torpex77

Just looked that those. Those look really nice, almost exactly what I'm looking for. I"ll have to keep watching for when the are available.

Originally Posted by Sum_Devl

Ya, I like them alot. My wife is asking, if I get a set to try and get something she can still use as a step. Plus from what I hear on this forum LoD makes some quality products. I know sixt7gt350 already has a pair on his jeep, but he went to their shop and got his. You should call them, I don't think you are to far from their shop, maybe they can hook you up.

Originally Posted by torpex77

I didn't realize they were that close. Thanks! That's only about 1.5 hours from me. I'll definitely have to contact them when I'm ready.

The mid-width bumper looks pretty good, too.

Originally Posted by Sum_Devl

I really like their stubby with the stinger on it.

Originally Posted by MOWrangler

It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to be out hitting the rocks ASAP, I'd find a pair of rubicon rails someone took off first. Those plastic steps would be toast if I had left them on my JK.

Then a small lift (preferably springs and not pucks if you want to get flex on the trail).

Then some better tires (if you can find some rubi take-off tires/wheels, you could do this before the lift, but if you want bigger meats you will need the lift first)

Depending on how talented you are, you could actually cut your stock bumper and make a winch fit in it, but I decided that the RR XHD front bumper was cheap enough that it wasn't worth the time and effort to cut the plastic bumper when I knew I'd throw it away eventually anyway...

Of course, once you get all of this done there are plenty of other ways to drop money. Smart money would be to get some kind of skid to protect the oil pain. If you end up puncturing that thing, you will spend as much money on a replacement as you would on a good skid. For further ways of spending money, see my sig line... and then my wish list...