i can't say much on tj lifts, but as far as armor goes, save your money and put it into a good lift! fabircate as much of your own armor as possible and upgrade as you can. bad apple makes some good diff covers that you couldn't build at their cost. The factory skid plate an a jeep will last a while, throw some angle iron on your rockers and go. don't cheat your lift for a fancy "light bracket" bumper. there is a lot of cost setting up a new rig. ie: jack, tow straps, fire extingusher, tires, lift, wheels, cb, breakage. and if you're thinking 4" or more I believe there is a lot of geomertry involved with the steering. (tj guys help me out). either way jeeps are pretty capabile out of the box. most of us started with a 2" budget lift and disconnects. that alone will open up your jeep to a whole new world and you can still take it on the highway, add a locker or two and it's a prudy darn good start. a plus for the budget lift is that when you decide to go higher, you can still use the budget boost to gain that 2" again. just my thoughts, good luck with the build.