Speaking of tires, it would help my piece of mind to replace the rear 8 ply 8 x 17.5" recapped mudgrips that I put on nearly 40 years ago.
I put some nice LTs on the front maybe ten years ago, but now find a huge lack of anything like them now.
Except maybe:
https://www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-super-transport/
I would also go with 16" rims and tires even with the small size difference.
Important to share info on this.