In general, the leaf spring Wranglers do not have a sterling reputation for off-road prowess. In stock trim they don't flex particularly well. That can be correcetd with aftermarket parts, but you have to remember why the CJ was killed off and the Wrangler developed in the first place.
AMC/Jeep would have kept on building the CJ foreever, just as they did with the SJ Cherokee/Wagoneer, except for "the CJ Kid." This was a moron who took a brand new CJ his parents bought him (don't recall now if he was in high school or college, but vague recollection suggests it might have been a HS graduation present), loaded it up with a bunch of friends, and went out to jump it like you see in the movies.
Naturally, he flipped it, destroyed the vehicle, and at least one person was killed. Again, I don't remember if it was the driver, a passenger, or maybe more than one.
The assault attorneys closed in for the kill, and sued AMC/Jeep on the theory that the vehicle was equipped with a "rollover bar" (which on the CJs was in reality more of a show bar) and therefore the kid was perfectly justifiable in believing that he could go out and flip his vehicle with complete safety. And a jury bought this theory, and awarded obscene amounts of money to the family of the decedent.
So Jeep pulled the plug on the CJ line and rushed the design of a replacement vehicle, with the primary design criterion being MAKE IT SO IT CAN'T ROLL OVER. Off-road capability was secondary (or tertiary) behind absolute stability.
