A little update. First of all, I had the engine running for about 11 hours yesterday. 3 hours of pavement time to a trail, then we spent about 6 hours on the trail, then 3 hours home. Engine ran great with no issues. So that was comforting.
Got to really put my rock sliders and other armor to the test yesterday and even hit my homemade transmission skid a couple of times so glad to have that there.
Got some body damage but it's minor. My tires hit the fenders a couple of times and pushed the passenger side up enough to where it's hitting the hood. I think I'll be able to adjust it.
And I came down good on a rock in the LR and scratched my OEM plastic bumper pretty good. I'm still quite happy that I saved the weight by not going with a steel bumper and I was able to buff out most of the damage with rubbing compound and then some wax. I don't plan on going on a trail as difficult as the one yesterday so hopefully won't have to deal with this again.
And every time I pack the Jeep for a trail, I always question whether I should bring certain tools. Well this time, I luckily had my vice and welder and was able to let another Jeeper borrow them that had torn a control arm bracket off of his axle. So I was really glad to have those with me and will ALWAYS bring them along. These guys had an even further drive home and had broken down on the very first obstacle.