trimming questions...

ok, the skinny....
98 cherokee se 2dr, 180,000 on the ticker, 4ltr, 5 speed.

what i want to do...
44/30hp swap to 3.55's
locker in 44
mingle s-10 leaves w/ jeep leaves for aprox 3" lift
zj coils w/ 1.5" spacers
34x10.50-15's on 8" rims (measured 31.5 w/ 25psi on buddies F150)
custom tube bumpers

how much triming is involved to get this thing to flex w/o tearing the tires and fenders to shreds? will longer bumpstops help w/o killing flex?

who cares about uptravel. its all about keeping the tires on the ground. Trim so your not tipping over, or to where you feel it is comfortably stuffed. then bumpstop so you dont tear up the fenders

You can remove the fender flares and cut the metal out that they mount too. This will gain you an 1 to 1.5 inch of uptravel to stuff the tires better.

As for the bumstop height it's based on the tire size clearance in the wheel well. The distance from the top of the tire to where it hits in the wheel well is you maximum uptravel.

From this bumpstop dimension you must size your shock length carefully to ensure you are getting the best uptravel without bottoming the shock out before you hit the bumpstop. The downtravel will be limited by the amount of travel this shock has from there.

For downtravel check to see that the shock stops before the spring unloads too much off the upper mount. I like the doetsch Tech 8000 series shock . They have built in bumstops at both ends, good travel and have worked well for me.
http://www.doetsch-shocks.com/2.asp