I have a 2006 H3 - no adventure package.

I live in Maui so lots of dirt roads and muddy trails, but Im a little nervous Id get stuck on many of them.

Here are my questions:

1) What add ons or changes to the stock H3 would you guys recommend for Hawaii trail riding? I am considering removing my running boards, cranking the torsion bars and getting bigger/off road wheels.

2) Are my 16 inch rims and stock wheels ideal for mud / clay ? We can drive on the beach here and if I do I get stuck in the sand with my stock setup.

 

I've never even been to Maui but Tossing the running boards will help clearance issues mostly seen over rocks. not so much with mud but I've been through some deep mud so your mileage may vary. Cranking the T-bars will allow you to fit 35" TIRES which will give you more clearance than the stock tires by about 2"s. Your stock Wheels/Rims (same thing) are perfectly fine assuming you buy TIRES for 16" rims and you like the way they look. There are a lot of Pros and Cons with different size tires however while off roading more tire is usually the most recommended With bigger tires you are going to lose some MPG's and Performance so a PCM tune may be in order if you have an automatic Transmission. I have not seen any data that shows a tune will help if you have a manual trans. as the biggest improvements seem to be the shift points.
See above about rims and wheels. I think you meant tires. So here goes. Wider tires will give you better traction in mud and sand. Lowering your air preasure will help as well as it will give you both a longer and slightly wider footprint. Being that you don't have the adventure you probably have 265-75-16 stock highway tires. I would not recommend taking them in the mud or loose sand. In the 33" range you have two choices 285's and 305's This is the width. Typically for most any off road driving wider is better. However My truck like many others is my Daily Driver so i opted for 285's. Being narrower they inherently have less friction which equates to less heat (better wear) and more MPG's again YMMV. Now you have the choice of AT or MT. MT will have a more aggressive tread pattern and will perform better in sand and mud. AT will be more aggressive than the standard highway tire yet less than the MT. They will be quieter on road and probably provide slightly better MPG's than MT's again YMMV.

Seeing that you have an '06 you have either the 3.5L or the 3.7L I5. I personally do not reccomend 35" tires with this motor package as the performance losses are huge. However, it is your truck and if you crank the T-bars they will fit. You will have both A/T's and M/T's in this range as well so se above for pros and cons for each.

 

get a high lift jack, and watch some youtube videos on how to use one

a very affordable and versatile recovery tool

 

I would get larger tires, you can go up to a 315/75R16 on the stock wheels... but you sacrifice your fuel economy, a 305/75R16 is a nice wide tire at a slightly smaller size, for sand/beach travel as well as muddy and rock roads get an aggressive A/T tire not M/Ts I would suggest either BFGs or Mickey Thompson A/Ts

I would also tell you to ditch the nerf bars for beach riding anyways... they will cause you to get stuck and loose traction in deeper loose sand... if you like digging yourself out all the time than leave them on... lol

 

Get a good tire - go to tirerack and read reviews, lots of helpful reviews that discuss stuff like how well it does in mud or sand. I wouldn't recommend going with 35" tires, I'd suggest going with a wider tire, 305 or 315, but a profile lower than 75 to keep the stock height. Since you want to keep speed up during sand/mud the lack of lockers isn't going to hurt much, if anything.

As for getting stuck, let me jump on my soap box - You should not be wheeling alone if you are somewhere you may get stuck or need help. If you really want to wheel alone and are worried about getting stuck you should bring a cell phone, install a CB, and bring a come-along, or better, install a winch. A high lift jack and shovel plus a couple planks of wood is also a good suggestion.