When I bought my 93 XLT 5-speed in 1997, one of the first things I did was install Bilstein shocks and mega front/rear sway bars with poly bushings from IPD (I had a sporty Volvo sedan and was a believer in big sway bars). While it handled great on pavement, I didn't realize the negative effect it would have off-road. I still kept them on because it made driving more fun on paved roads, and that was most of my driving.
When I bought my '93 Limited Automatic a while ago, instead of switching the sway bars, I kept the originals but swapped the bushings for poly. Kind of a best of both worlds. If I would have kept driving the 5-speed (which I actually like better, but my aging knees don't), I would have made sway bar disconnects for off-road.