I've got some new tires coming, so I want to test them before changing anything. Then I was thinking of going lighter on rear diff oil too. Thanks to Mark and Danny for the suggestions -- I will be trying some of those also. I already have some yellow rear springs which I am going to try out.

Update on the Bulldog body: nice and durable, which I need , but lets tons of dirt into the chassis! I am thinking about making some kind of shield to close the gaps around the sides.