I have a 28MM ZJ sway bar on the front of my truck. There is a thread in the DIY section about adding sway bars to the rear of both the LWB and the SWB trucks.
Steel lowering blocks will be fine. Aluminum blocks will crack and fail. You can also use a XJ rear shackle to lower the rear 3/4" or so.
Front stock TJ coils will lower the front an inch. ZJ rear coils on the front will drop the front about 2".
There are plenty of Marines on base that can weld. Go find MTM and locate the weld shop. I can put you in touch with a CWO buddy of mine that can assist you as well. I am a Marine also. I know for a fact that you can find a Marine with a welder.
My buddy texted me a picture of your truck a few weeks ago. It was sitting by the gas pumps in the PX parking lot. The first this I said is the bumper sucks but the truck is super nice.
I would just chop the stinger off and keep the bumper.
I have a 93 engine with a 97 stamped cover. I use the new gasket with that cover.
On a unrelated note. My engine has had a lifter tap since I put it in a few months ago. I just wrote it off as a old worn out engine. When I pulled the cover to replace my gasket I noticed the front two rockers were hitting the cover. I hit the cover a couple times with a hammer where they were making contact. It got a little better but needs more clearance to remove the tap completely. I got lazy and said screw it, they will self clearance. I'm not sure why the rockers are hitting the cover but they are?
I ran it a couple times in my 07 5.9 Cummins. I can tell within a few miles if it is ULSD or Bio. My power is down and the fuel economy goes to crap. It also makes the engine rattle more. I now will go out of my way to get real diesel.
No Bio for my big girl.
I suggested something like the JCR boxes in another thread he had as well. The ones he had made may work for him but I would never put them on my trucks.
The only parts I bought new were the HC leaf springs. Everything else was used, hand me downs, from friends or bought on different Forums.
You don't have to settle for a junk lift to have a cheap high quality lift.
Ive had the Rusty's HD bracket and adjustable bar on my TJ for close to 3 years now. Not a single issue...
I'm not going to get into the cRusty's debate again. Do some research on them and you will see I am not alone with having issues with them.
Flex it out and turn the steering wheel and see how much they rub. You will need to trim if you take it off road and disconnect. I have the same setup and I had to trim.