Minus the leaf springs I suggested, Im going to use the ones supplied with FT's lift.

If I run 7100's 10/12" travel up front, what shocks should I use for the rear?

If you have an sye you dont need the tc drop.

Not sure how much $ you have to work with but if I was doing a go fast setup id go with a long arm kit front with F.O.A. coilovers and deavers in the rear with a decent smooth body shock like fox or bilstein then run a sye on the t case and swap axles depending on what axles you have. ( I skimed thru the post on my phone real quick so I might have missed what axles you have)

Oh yeah and some nice air bumps for those big whoops you don't see lol

like said you are best off piecing something together.

as for shock choice, I now run some FOA 2.0 remote resivoirs. (pretty on par with a 7100) valved similar to the bilstein 360/80 and it didnt take me long to find the limits of them. They are amazing for crawling and getting to and from the rocks quickly though.

and for springs, you want to stray away from anything thats advertised as "soft"

Don't drop the case, just get an SYE. Do it right. The back is 12" or 10" without cutting. The one thin ive been warned about with 12" travel is possible binding of the DS .

The rear is sane idea as front, different shock mounts.

I think all you listed and are planning will help a lot. What's your current set-up?

Just a wild guess but you find the limit of most new parts on your jeep judging you off of your avatar pic... lol
their limit is still over what most people can dish out. Foas are pretty popular in koh and ultra 4 cars. Can't beat them for the price

no you dont need to drop the t-case with an SYE.

and a good set of shocks will get you closer to go-fast stuff. i have Bilstein 5150s up front and 5100s out back and can hit trails at a good rate of speed.

i know all about em'

having had 6 of them and thier airbumps

Well currently I just have a 3 inch lift with 30" BFG all terrains and an AFE air intake.

After more revision I made this list with rough price estimates.

$450 protofab front bumper
$400 tandj fiberglass front fenders
$180 rustys exhaust
$160 62mm throttle body
$180Slip yolk eliminator
$2000Full Traction 6" long arm performance suspension lift
$450 Bilstein 7100's w/ 12" travel up front
$450 Bilstein 7100's w 10" travel in the rear
$150 Synergy Suspension Jeep XJ Track Bar Bracket & Brace Kit with dropped pitman arm
BFG 33X12.50 A/T
$1200
Twisted stitch Suspension limit straps

Upgraded radiator, trans cooler, and thermostat housing

1987 jeep Dana 44 rear axle

A twisted stitch driver seat

And some type of front lunchbox locker and Dana 44 axle assembly


This would be a fairly slow build but Id like to know your opinions before I start buying stuff

Doesn't the FT kit come with a trackbar?

^^^ the fulltraction kit does come with the track bar. List looks pretty good, I don't know if you planned to but I would get the bilstein 7100 short bodies.

Any progress on this build? I'm starting a very similar project. I'd like to know how it ended up taking the whoops. I go to Silver Lake Sand Dunes and on holiday weekends the sand gets pretty beat up. My truck bounces like crazy so I'm hoping to build the XJ to somewhat keep up with the side by sides cruising through there