You dont need to worry about what year to buy because if you come across a good deal on an EB you will end up building it the way you want it anyway. But for starters you need to make sure you have a good base point. Get any year from 70-77 and you will have the stronger Dana 44 front axle. If you are going to do rock crawling you need to look at something with power steering or has had the conversion done. You also will want to look into getting a disk brake setup or one that has it. The original 3 speeds weren't really intended for serious rock crawling so you gotta get one that has had the NP swap done or one that has an Atlas or Cold Duck x-fer on it. Then you gotta look at your rear end. If it has the small bearing, 28 splined axle, you should upgrade to the big bearing, 31 splined axles. With those simple modifications done, you should really look into something with upgraded driveshafts and possibly an EFI setup.
So in essence, what I am saying is, there really isn't 1 year that has a definate benefit over another. You just got to look at the subtle changes that were made from year to year and decide which changes you like best. You will end up putting money into this thing no matter what. If you do buy a ready built rig then look to spend in the neighborhood of 10-15k on it. Take mine for instance, I have done all those upgrades and have put lockers in both axles, onboard air, rock bumpers, regeared and if I were to sell mine tomorrow I would have to ask $13,000 to cover the cost of upgrading and vehicle purchase. Well, I ain't about to sell mine but you get the picture, find a good starter and have fun building it.
Not always is it about the HP. That is how you get into trouble and break things.
