So. Made some adjustments and got the handling in a good place. Was happy with the way things are. Then went and got some new shoes...
Not the best picture, but it works. Rear looks high because I have no spare (waiting on the bracket to move the spare tire mount) and nothing in it. I think it will settle a little as well. I ended up getting Toyo Open Country AT III in a 35/11.5r17 on the stock wheels with 1.75 inch Spidertrax spacers. No rub, everything clears and I'm happy with it.
Next up is some gearing. Everything I read, opinion wise, says 4.56. However, when I do the math [(new tire dia x old gearing)/old tire dia] [(34.5x3.45)/31.5]=
3.77 is what I would need to mimic what I had on the stock tires. Gearing down a little to 4.10 seems like the right thing to do as I thought it was peppy in stock trim. To me this means that 4.56 is going to be REALLY peppy and probably geared down to much.
I understand that as I add weight, front bumper, rear bumper, skid plates, gear... that the lower gear (4.10) will become more appropriate, but am I missing anything? 4.56 seems like it's unnecessarily short gearing.