The problem is with the stock springs. They are soft. If you're going SOA, you'll really want to use all rear springs if you can. Typically you'll have 4 leaf fronts and 5 leaf rears though. 4.0L's with hardtops sometimes came with 5 up front and 6 in the back. Stiffer springs will help with the axle wrap as well as link/arms.
The most common type is the ladder bar. These connect to the driver side axle tube and then link it to the transfer crossmember or frame. Generally only one is needed but some people use more then one. Problem with ladder bars is that they are large and can eat up ground clearance.
There are also links or rods. They basically do the same as the ladder bar but with one rod to keep the axle from twisting. There are many companies that make these too.
Problem with the pre-built kits is that they are universal and not custom built to your specific jeep. Many end up bent because of it.
Custom springs are a good choice though. Use the custom springs that are built for your load and powerplant. All Military swap means is that the secondary leaf is full length and wraps around the eye of the leaf to give you a bit more protection in case the main leaf breaks. The military wrapped end is placed on the fixed shackle hanger. The other end is usually a half wrap. What this all does is helps keep the axle under the vehicle if/when the main breaks. Also be aware that if you use aftermarket shackles you could run into some clearance issues with the leafs and the supports in the shackles.
There are anti-wrap perches also. These have sorta faded away though. Rubicon Express used to sell them with their SOA kits. They don't help much though. Basically they act like load springs. Those are the smaller springs on the leaf pack.
Some other oprions. Full length Add-A-leafs. These will give you around 1-1.5" more lift and beaf up the spring pack. Using the full length leafs will not adversly affect the ride quality nearly as much as the half leaf. Again the short leafs act as load leafs which tend to really firm up the ride.
The Bam-Bar which was mentioned above was the creation of some of my Socal friends. Basically it's a shackle that's mounted to an arm that sits on bushings to allow it to give full range of movement and not hinder suspension travel. These are one off's so each is built to the specific vehicle.
Now another option is to use reverse eye leaf springs. What this does is gives you the higher spring rate of an arched leaf without giving you any excess of height. What this means is instead of the eye rolled into the center of the spring they are rolled to the outside. This is how many vehicles that come SOA from the factory are built. I believe Rubicon Express is the only one who makes these off the shelf. You should be able to get them custom built though. These leafs tend to last a lot longer then stock leafs also.
Keep in mind that stock leafs will sag. If you cycle the suspension a lot you can expect the leafs to maybe last a season or two before needing replacing. Many people add a cut main leaf from a stock pack to another stock pack to bump up the spring rate. Also some use 2.5" SUA kits.
I currently run a SOA/SUA setup. Basically the best of both worlds sort of thing. Although it requires a lot of custom tweaking, I don't have axle wrap. When I get around to it though I'll probably replace my 5 pack stock leafs with RE 1.5" SOA leafs.
Wow, I started to ramble off there... :roll:
