OK, thanks to a friend who did nothing more than ask a simple question I started thinking, but have a bad feeling I'm thinking in the wrong direction.

I have a pair of chevy trucks, one '48 3100 and one 50something 3800. I started work on the half-ton thinking I'd swap in an mustang II IFS and swap the rear for an open driveline. Then my buddy came along and asked why I wasn't going with the 3800 for the longer bed. So I scratched my head and thought about it and couldn't come up with a good reason why. I'm changing the rear-end anyway so I wouldn't need to worry about the original gearing there, and the front well I guess that's a decent question- Can a mustang II handle something that big?

Is there something painfully obvious I'm overlooking here? Please shoot this idea full of holes before I torture myself on this half-cocked plan I'm throwing together.

Sorry about the length- thanks
Andy