lift/shock questions

[4x4junkie]

The shocks typically are the same if you were to get extended radius arms, I'd say yeah just go ahead and get whichever ones it is you want.

FWIW, I've been wheeling with 35x12.50s on my D35 going on 6 years now and have had no issues with it whatsoever (has the Jeep hub and Spicer 760X u-joint upgrades). However I also don't normally just mash the throttle if I lose traction or don't make it up something on the first try (instead, I try to find a better line up it).
YMMV.
What I can't tell you though is the # of times I've watched people swap D35s for D44s, only to continue to break doing whatever it is they're doing and wish they had saved for tons right from the beginning (seen it here, seen it on TRS, seen it over on Pirate). Just be sure to do some research before you start swapping.

I fail to see the point in doing a sloped body lift anyway. Why bother when it's cheaper and easier to just throw ten bucks in washers under the front springs and get a level suspension? Sometimes it seems people just want to be right about something and get others to do it to keep up the act that it's cool and safe, rather than just accept the reality. That's where sloped body lifts are at, right there with throw-HID-bulbs-in-a-halogen-housing-conversions and other bright ideas.

The "reality" is you only can get 2" lift out of the front suspension using washers like that (before you'd need an actual lift kit that has drop brackets), where a SOA conversion on the rear gets you ~5" lift. The sloped BL is simply a poor man's way of making the body sit level on that.