Other options:
In 54 trucks had open drive shafts with a drop out diff. All the way to 62. 47-53 has a Torque Tube drop out. You can swap guts/drop out and make a TT rear end into a open. It's a bit of a fab intensive job but not real technical. That gives you ratio opportunities, stock diff/width, No brake line or ebrake cable problems.
Basically: Take off leaf spring to axle tube "clamp" and weld on a spring perch on bottom.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
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