Looks like your axle questions may be answered...

As far as longer shocks, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. As soon as you max out travel back there (with swaybar removed, etc), you put a lot of strain on the rear trailing arms, to the point where breakage can occur. Some have swapped to rear gen 2 susp and others have wristed the rear panhard. My feeling is that with a locker back there, assuming you find one, you'll be all set.

I'm not saying its not doable, just saying that longer shocks and deleting the swaybar may not be enough to get you what you want. I used factory length KYB's after I swapped to gen2 coils on my gen1, and had no issues. I do not, however, know the part number for the those shocks. this was "a little while ago".

But let me take a step back first. Try the swaybar removal first, if you haven't already. I took mine off, and the test drive at highway speeds convinced me to put it back on. But to each his own, right?

Cheers
PHIL