Hey folks, new issue that popped up in my XJ yesterday

The previous owner said he had replaced the clutch at 100K miles, I can't remember if he gave me a reason or not, but I have no idea what brand or anything like that. I now have ~250k on my XJ.

Yesterday, I was bombing it around Denver in the recent blizzard and wound up trying to bomb it through a ~3ft deep snow-bank. No tire slip or anything (4-HI), but I stopped to try and get out to take a picture. When I tried to reverse out (reversing up a small incline), I thought the wheels were spinning but within a split second I smelled burning clutch so I immediately got off the gas. I tried to rock it out in 4-HI but it just was "stuck" and I dont think I could even get the wheels spinning before the clutch started slipping. I put it in 4-LO and rocked it forwards and backwards and managed to get out easily

The snow was super deep and heavy (axles were definitely under the snow) so I do understand there was alot of resistance but what I do not understand is why I was not able to overcome the force of the heavy and wet snow

Anyways, I do realize that 150K on a daily driven, city driven car is going to probably be due for a clutch replacement in ideal conditions, not to mention off-roading and having to slip the clutch more often. I will probably just destroy the clutch the rest of the way this summer, keep my fingers crossed that the throw-out bearing doesn't explode on me, and replace it before the winter hits next year. I mostly just don't understand why I was not able to at least spin the tires in 4-HI and why the clutch started smoking


And I guess since I posted this in Tech - LUK standard or LUK "Pro Gold"? I am going to do the Transmission mount at the same time - should I get an aftermarket mount, poly, or just stock rubber?

And what is the best brand of Throw-Out bearing? It looks like the one that comes with the LUK clutches is half-plastic, and Timken is now 80% made in China - should I go with a National bearing or an SKF bearing? SKF is $25 more expensive, but obviously dropping the trans again is going to "cost" me more than $25 but I am no really sure who makes the best bearings any more. Used to be Timken, but BOTH my Timken front hubs failed within a year, replaced with "Precision" branded bearings and they still sound good