2.5L Carb issues

I've got an 84 XJ with the carburated 2.5, running on 32's and stock gears. I've been having issues making it up decent sized hills. I didnt used to have this issue. it happened about 8 months ago at the end of summer, so i rebuilt the carburator and didnt have any more issues all winter. Then my last wheeling trip i was doing just fine, until later in the day when it would just bog down and die on these hills. This just sounds like what cabeurators do, but I was testing it out a few days ago and it had the same issue, but i noticed that it would not sputter when i was going down the hill. So i took the hill in reverse and crawled up it very slowly with no problem at all. So then i thought maybe its a fuel pick up issue, and maybe fuel wasnt getting to the pickup, so i filled the tank all the way up to the brim and tried again, and had the same issue. My only other thought is that maybe when im going up the hill in reverse, gravity is helping the fuel to the engine and mabye my fuel pump cant handle pulling it up those lines at those hard angles. My other thought, is that it could be heat related, because it was a very hot day that it failed the first time, and i didnt have problems all winter, and now its starting up again. Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

I use to have an 84 with the carb. I swaped in an MPI motor from a YJ. Bolted right in and was easy. You do need the wiring from a MPI XJ though and that can be a hassel. The best thing you can do is swap in the MPI system. It will bolt right up. As for your problem I'd check the fuel pump. It is on the block by the way. Just in case you did nont knwo that.

I put a Weber carb on mine...I have absolutely no problems with approach angle. Check the float level on the stock carb...it may be too high...but the stock carb is a POS at best...most suited to get mom back and forth from home to soccer practice.