Moose,
I finally found some time to respond. I'm a sucker for the early ones as they are brutish. 33x12.5's will fit no problem with good factory springs. A slight change in the factory steering stops is all that's needed.
They are very easy to work on, you don't need to jack them up and you can damn near sit in the engine compartment to do a tune up. :) Headers are easy to find. The early models had the NP203 transfer case with no 2wd option. This case is a monster and made of cast iron and weighs nearly 200 lbs. Parts are readily availible for it. I have not yet found a Colorado snow storm that could stop my beast.