First welcome, Next, just because you took it off road doesn't mean you will do any of the exterior modifications you mentioned other than a splash of mud or a little dust and in socal you get lots of dust just parked in the driveway. I think the allure to wheeling is just getting away from this swath of concrete that strechs from LA to San Diego. I could send you on runs that would take a few hours to do and won't even scratch your truck. You get to see what this area was like all over before they cut and chopped every hill and covered them over with mini malls and cookie cutter houses. Plenty of wildlife to see out there too. Nice graded roads with the brush trimmed back. When you are all done all you will need is a good wash. It all depends on how hard you want to wheel it. Some of us like to go into remote areas to camp, fish and hunt while others like to plow through mud puddles and try to climb over obstacles. Its all about what one likes to do. Many people like to sit on thier duffs and watch football or basketball games on the TV while others prefer to work or tinker in the garage on something. I like to do both so I put a TV in the garage and what this has to do with wheeling is beyond me.
Where in socal are you? I live in Dana Point, down in South Orange County