I have heard that the Chrysler 9.25 is terrible when it comes to off roading...
"You heard" ????? Was it U tube or facist book? Swirling Sewage tanks of festering misinformation.
You heard wrong, ok.
If anything the front Dana 44 is marginal in certain situations, and becomes more of a liability as the tire size increases. About 99% pf that is due to the uber small axle U joints, which are also found in a lot of the 3/4 and 1 ton axles, up to 2002.
The difference is that for a bunch of bucks, you can can upgrade the Dana 60 with 32 spline axles and the larger axle joints
Having said that, I knew of dozens of guys back in the day that did quite well with the factory axles even a couple crazy characters that ran 37 inch tires with a D-44/9:25 combo. They simply carried spare axles for the front D-44. And got good at changing
The rear 9.25 has a weak point. It's pinion bearing was never designed for uber sized tires and high horsepower. With regular maintenance, it will last well over 150 k on a stock or mildly modified truck. The weak factory LSD usually causes it's demise...perhaps that's another story.
Learning the "fundamentals" of rock crawling can be done with the truck you have now. It will teach you two of the most valuable lessons you will need to know, A. How to take an Elephant through the eye of needle, and B. How to judge an obstacle before breaking your truck trying to. Actually there's a 3rd lesson. How to tell your buds to "f off" when they try to goad you past lesson B.
You'll learn to pick a line through an obstacle, listen to spotters you trust, and only them, and decide mods based on what may limit your truck.
In my instance, I was able to drive my truck through some pretty interesting stuff until I bottomed out the entire truck sliding down a small waterfall. All I had was a front coil spacer and 285 AT tires. I learned a lot those 4 years, and was impressed on what the truck would do, more than what it would not. I also learned to listen to my spotter the hard way!
My advice is finding a group of experienced off roaders who mod their own vehicles and ask to tag along. People that do their own work... not use a card to pay others to do it. They should be honest about your vehicle and what it can do. Sometimes you might just want to ride along, or take the bypasses.
You'll also want to buy a good high strength recovery strap, (not a tow strap) flashlights, first aid kit, perhaps even a high lift jack and learn how to use it! Some ORV parks and off road clubs require a CB radio, so you'll need that.
Make sure your shocks, ball joints, U joints, and tie rods are tight and replace anything that is border line. Reliability is key when your in the middle of nowhere. So a small bag of tools, and a few spare pieces is a must. Right now, having everything in a good condition is a start.
From there you can go hog wild. Farther down the trail.
It can be quite addicting, and I enjoyed my time in the desert and up in the mountains of Arizona.
