Monroe shocks are fine, I have found they do get a little hot in river beds (continuopus use) but not as much as OME shocks.
when hot they do not tend to change characteristics, I am now running commodore shocks as I broke the two front monroe shocks (drove over them on an uneven floor testing a new spring setup)
As far as the springs havent tried them but look at the spring rate and the standard spring rate make sure they are close to the same maybe slightly stronger if you are running bullbars etc. What are they going on?