There are a few 285/75R17s out there in a C load. Falken A/T4W, Toyo Open Country A/T III, Nitto Ridge Grappler and Falken's new R/T. The last will be what replaces my current 285/70R17s when they wear out.
I have a Black Diamond 2 door that had the Hitachi shocks. So I used the spring seat adapter with the circlip installed in the #2 location (second groove from the bottom). That lifted my Bronco the advertised 1.5". Looks like you have a Big Bend, so if you have the Hitachi shocks and want 1.5"...
It's my experience that you don't need a freezer. If you're packing food for more than a few days, freeze what you can ahead of time. That buys you an extra couple days. When we go for more than a few days we quite often plan meals for the later days in the trip that don't require refrigerated food.
I've been running (year round) the Falken AT3s on my 2 door Bronco for almost 2 years. They can handle pretty much anything short of deep clay mud. Last winter was pretty brutal in Utah, and the Falkens were almost as good as a dedicated winter tire. I would have put a set on my 2009 Suburban...
Ignore the metal sleeve reference. It turned out to be nothing.
The Bilstein 5100s come with perches that can be set at different heights.
Hope this answers your question.
The articulation is definitely better, but it's really hard to quantify how much better. The retaining wall I used to gauge it runs alongside a sloping driveway. I was able to drive about 16" further along the wall with the DS front tire on the wall, crossing up the suspension where it was just...
The ride quality is definitely better (especially off road) than the Hitachis, and the wheel travel increased a little as well (as evidenced by how far down a retaining wall I can go before lifting a rear tire). I have no point of reference to compare the ride quality to that with the sas...
Your base has the same coilovers (Hitachis) that my Black Diamond did--maybe different springs but the same shocks. You cannot reuse your springs with the sas shocks. They are incompatible. Sounds like you bought assembled takeoffs. I bought the parts individually and had a shop assemble the...
Glad you didn't turn around. I've learned to not trust what the NPS says. I imagine that they take an extremely conservative approach to such questions, so people can't come back on them when they get stuck or not meet their schedule.
I love seeing Broncos that get used off road! I've had more than a few people think I'm nuts when they see my dirty, desert pin stiped Bronco. My response, "that's why I bought it".