In honesty I am after clearance so perhaps a body lift and large rubber will get what I need and easier on the pocket. Just looking to hear others experience on the matter.
If your looking to do 35s on a YJ and keep the fenders you can do a 2.5-3" spring under lift and 1" body lift and have a fairly capable rig if you beef up the rest of the jeep to handle the 35s.
If your jeep has the stock rear dana 35 axle you could do a 2.5" lift and 1" body lift and run 33s and keep the rear open and be very capable.
If you want 31s you could do a 2.5" lift and you would be fine.
With spring over axle in my experience you have to do cross over steering to a high steer arm to keep the drag link out of the leaf spring at full turn to the passenger side. You will also bend leaf springs and break driveshafts if you keep stock springs with no traction bar and you plan to run any trail with ledges or hill climbs.
With your driveshafts, its not that they will be that much to short with a spring over, its that the angle of the driveshaft at the Transfer case will be extreme and cause bad vibrations. While the YJ rear driveshaft is a good bit longer than a TJ rear shaft it is still very short in vehicle terms and leads to bad vibes, worn slips, broken yokes, and headaches if used with lifts higher than 2.5"-3.