A reply
I guess someone should give you a reply, so for now it will be me.
A have an older Cherokee XJ and if experience is any teacher (I think it is one of the best) I would say don't let the stock condition of your vehicle prevent you from starting your own exploring. More than the size of your tires and the height of your lift is the value of diving experience and knowing where to place your tires and how to approach a obstacle or climb. I have seen inexperience drivers with all kinds of modifications be unable to get through a trail where someone with lots of good experience take a stock vehicle and get through making it look easy.
As you travel off-road you will learn what modifications will truly help you for the type of travel you want to do. Don't let "style" or what someone else has done to their vehicle govern what you necessarly do.
Proably the best recommendation is having a good set of tires that are designed to travel off-road with some good sidewall protection. Also making sure they will fit into your present wheel wells without too much rubing.
As you start traveling off-road, and I do recommeded that you go with some other experience drivers, you will find what is important and what will be needed to improve your vehicles ability.
I still take out groups with some driving fully stock vehicles on what is written up as "difficult" trail in some of the books. As your confidence and skills increase you will find the importance and need for some of modifications decrease.
Another thing would be after spending some $$$ only to find that it really didn't do all that you thought and you end up changing the modification and spending more $$$. It can be an expensive learning experience.
Hope this is helpful, fixing up a off-road vehicle is fun and can be a rather pricey endeavor, there has developed a whole multi-million dollar industry dedicated to the premise that we all need to modify our vehicles just a little more to meet our off road needs, hey, why be any different.....
Enjoy,
Fred
Explorer 1