I look very hard at every pound.
So - hidden winch mount with synthetic winch rope. No plate bumper.
Rear minimalist bumper skid set rather than full plate rear bumper.
Minimalist rock sliders. A little engineering on sliders goes a long way. They don't need to weigh more than about 50lbs per side.
No roof basket. I use 8020 cross bars on the OEM rails, then use quick attach t-slot nuts on everything I put up there. Awning goes on/off in literally 30 seconds. So does everything else up there. I only carry what I actually need for the trip. Usually Awning, 100 watt solar panel, and high lift. I may buy a solar blanket at some point - you can get 100 watt setup under 20lbs vs about 60 for my current one.
The rest is inside weight. I think a fridge weighs less than a similar size cooler with ice. I have a Dometic 55L fridge and it's very similar weight to my Pelican ~50L cooler empty. I carry water - but also a filter anywhere I know I'll have fresh filterable water available. If I'm in the desert - water is part of the weight planning. Not much I can do to make it lighter...
There are some other little things you can go crazy with - like taking hard liquor instead of beer. Also as a side note - going fast in the whoops with a fridge full of bottles of beer is a bad idea. I did this two weeks ago and ended up with beer and broken glass soup.
Beer cans are a good choice!
The other weight I carry most times is tools. I've been pretty careful about what I carry - but my hand tool kit weighs 50lbs at least. And that's about the minimum tools that still allow for a full set of sockets from 10-21mm and a full set of wrenches, screw drivers, pliers, and all the electrical connectors and spare wire, etc. I'd like to pair this down. I carry a spare complete front axle. And may take a compete rear drive shaft on some rock crawling trips if I can find one locally in the next week or so. It doesn't weigh much and it's the most likely spot I think I'll damage a critical component.
The rest is typically camping gear. I can go as light as fully backpacking setup and bivy sack, or more typical 4 person dome tent, air mattress, sleeping bags, etc. In either event I'm still far lighter than a RTT. RTT's are mostly really heavy. The Yakima one is the only one I know of with light weight fabric that weights under 100lbs.
That's been my general philosophiy regarding weight and gear distribution. Nothing on the outside that doesn't need to be outside for wind resistance management. Nothing on the inside that I don't reasonably need.
On 34" tires - I still get a corrected 18-19mpg on the highway. I suspect keeping OEM rake is a huge deal in terms of wind resistance. Trying to "level" the suspension and putting a big roof rack on are probably the two worst choices you could make for highway mileage.
The other big weight adder is people. Traveling with only 2 people means you're saving 400lbs just in weight of people compared to a crew of 4. Not to mention all the extra stuff they bring with. Families are just inherently at a disadvantage. Nothing you can do about that. But - they can get out for a really technical section, so it's not such a big issue on the trails for the most part.
