So. This is a pretty wordy post, if only to catch everyone up on the progress of my rig.
The good stuff:
The suspension setup I concocted turned out to be pretty excellent. It's equally capable on road at 75-80MPH as it is on the trail. I cannot say enough good things about the progressive AEV springs (which are no longer available, thanks AEV for abandoning the TJ/LJ!) and how they work in conjunction with the Bilstein shocks. The Currie control arms are a work of art, beefy without being excessive.
I have around 3,500 miles on this setup since I swapped it on. A lot of those miles were in some pretty serious (for Florida) trails, and it and the Jeep have performed excellently.
I have been let down in two areas. One is the open diffs, which tend to put a hamper on some of the fun out there. And the other is the stock belly pan, which hung me up on more than once on some wheeling me and my 4x4 club did before Jeep Beach in April. Both of those issues are being addressed as I'm ordering a UCF no lift skid as well as TNT Custom Guardian rock sliders (I spent a disturbing amount of time close to obstacles which would obliterate my rocker panels)
I will also be running front and rear ARB lockers.
Since I'm going to be opening up the diffs anyway, I decided to re-gear (to 4.56) for my eventual jump to 35 inch tires, which should happen sometime before my overland trip across the U.S. next March. This trip (which is happening right after I take my Bar exam) will have a two week stopover in Moab, so I'm trying to get everything squared away before that. The front axle is getting swapped with a high-pinion Dana 30 out of a Cherokee for some added strength. I'm also running 35 spline RCVs up front for some more strength.
My steering is also weak point right now, so I'm going to be installing a Currie steering set up front to beef it up.
Continuing my motif of finding stupid lucky deals on Ebay/Craigslist, I scored a like new TJ Rubicon transfer case for $800, so I plan on dropping that in as well.
Out back, I'm still running the stock bumper. I've been looking for a solid bumper with a receiver that also has bumper/frame tie-ins, and I think I found on in the JCR rear bumper. I saved myself from having to find a tire carrier when I installed a Gr8tops Exogate tire carrier. I have probably 9,000 miles since I mounted it and it's still going strong with no signs of trouble. I make sure to keep it tight and greased.
Lighting wise, I was able to run HID headlights and fogs which do an amazing job of lighting up dark trails.
The nebulous/slightly bad stuff:
I've been having a slight overheating problem ever since I swapped my leaky radiator for a new one. I'm currently running around with a diagnostic tool plugged into the OBD port to get some real-time readings. Most of the time I hover around 207*F-211*F which isn't bad. Anytime my speed gets up there, or during other random times (really no rhyme or reason I can figure out right now) it'll rise to 213-218*F which is pretty hot. I'm trying to gather some more data before I try to troubleshoot this with my friends and mechanic.
Slightly more troubling but even more mysterious is the weird sounds I get out of my back end every now and again, usually when accelerating from a stop. Creaks and pops mostly. I've had these noises since I bought the Jeep and I can't really say they've gotten worse, but since I'm really trying to go over this thing with a fine tooth comb in anticipation of this trip, it's something I've started paying attention to.
Whats left:
I took some water over the top of the hood in the week leading up to Jeep Beach, and It freaked me out a bit. I've been looking at a Snorkel as a result. Also, I'm looking to run high clearance fenders, probably by TNT Customs. I played with the idea of the roof rack and RTT, but it's both cost prohibitive and unnecessary for me right now, as well as the worst thing in the world for gas mileage and aerodynamics. I'm looking at just putting a sleep platform in the back of the Jeep for now and maybe setting up a trailer later in the future.