New truck

First of all, what's up. I'm new to this site, and new to the obsession of off-roading. Just bought my first truck, and was hoping to get some ideas for building it up.

It's a '90 Power Ram half-ton. It has a 318 engine, torqueflite transmission, 3 inch lift, and 33inch BFG All-Terrain tires.

Now the first thing I noticed is the fuel economy is almost 20MPG less than what I was driving. And while I think I died a little inside when ten bucks barely gave me a quarter of a tank, I know it comes with the territory.

But what I really want to know is, in you guys' more experienced opinions, what should I add/change? This is Ohio, so it's pretty much given that my main objective will be snow and mud capability. I've been told with the lift it'd be a good idea to swap axles. But while I'm not a moron, mechanically inclined isn't a very good description of me. So I'm gonna trust you guys.

Thanks.  

one thing you could change is the tires and while the bfg all terrains are good if all you are thinking about is mud and snow maybe come bfg mud terrains are in order there. as far as switching axles if you already have a solid axle up front you just need to beef it up, if you don't then check around and see what prices you can get one for. and if you want more lift i would suggest going with 35's all the way around  

You will need to answer some questions for yourself.  What do you want to do with the truck?  How big do you want it to be?  Then go from there.  The 1/2 ton axles will be fine with 33" tires unless you drive very agrssive.  35" tires on 1/2 ton axles will stress them greatly if you do mildly hard off roading.  If you decide to go bigger than 35" tires I would recomend 1 ton axles.  The taller the lift and the bigger the tires, expect reduced fuel economy even when axles are geared correctly for tire size.  But there again it all depends on amount of lift and size of tire.  My daily driver is a 1989 Suburban running on 33X9.50's and stock suspension, no trimming.  The most I do with this one off road is what I would consider very mild off road.  I have other truck for hard off road use.  If you still have that fuel economy vehical for paved road running, don't let reduced fuel economy take away from your off road fun.