I'm planning my 65 Scout build. For very long-winded reasons (which i'll spare for simplicity) I want a ridiculously rigid frame and a compliant suspension. Off roading is more fun when you're not fighting to stay in the vehicle. I spent this last week on a 4-wheeling/hunting/fishing/drinking trip with some buddies and had the chance to evaluate different rides from stock to mildly modified. They all were 95% on-road trucks that happened to have 4wd and were more than enough for the wheeling we did.
The one thing I noticed was that frame flex was notable and the spring rates tended to be relatively stiff to compensate. Its also obvious that the OEMs designed them for 99% highway duty and the better road manners were the design goal instead of off-road comfort.
So, let's say I wanted to create a more compliant suspension that let me buzz down the dirt roads without slowing to a crawl for every pothole. I don't need 15" of travel like a Baja truck as it swallows up jumps, but you can use that as your reference. How can I design a soft and compliant suspension that won't royally suck on the highway?
We are not the board you are looking for young Jedi.
Head over to Pirate 4x4 and look around.
Don't ask silly questions, they are not kind to silly questions.
Their knowledge is unparalleled.
Removable sway bars 
Getting a shock that's stiff in low speed damping and soft in low speed might do the job. But have a look at video of a Trophy Truck on the road. They do flop around on the road.
Interesting note: rock crawlers are far more interested in droop travel than compression. So maybe you just want a suspension that doesn't sit too high but has lots of droop.
What they've been able to accomplish with the KOH trucks is pretty amazing. The "lowest" class (stock something or another) is pretty simple stuff, but the advances in shocks in the last decade make them remarkably capable vehicles. Granted, these guys are spending $1500 a corner, but the changes you see are comparable to the changes you see between a stock street sedan and that same car on competetive autocross suspension. I have Camburg upper arms and coil over front shocks on my truck and the transformation was astounding. Every single thing about how the truck drives was made better, on road, rough dirt roads, (I don't really drive off road) everywhere was better.
