At 4.5" I think if it was me I'd go straight to long arms. I had a jeep on 4" and the factory arms were limiting flex and it rode like a lumber wagon. If you want good flex and decent road manners I'd recommend long arms. There are tons of good companies out there and Rough Country is not one of them. Clayton was brought up and they are top notch. I have a kit from Iron Rock Offroad and I love it.

 

I just bought a cav fab 3 link, with some 4.5" re coils, an adjustable track bar, bilsteins shocks, extended brake lines, and a couple cheap odds and ends for around $1500 I believe the total was. So in theory you could buy slightly cheaper shocks and then buy some re leaf springs, shackle relocation box, and some nice shackles for around $2k and it would be a really well rounded set up with good travel, good ride, and long lasting quality.

 

two options put together, would need a sye and rear driveshaft no matter what, and would suggest new steering even if you just do the zj upgrade.