When you say "front end replacements", are you talking about the mustang 2 style crossmembers that convert the front end to a double a-arm setup?
That kind of conversion can be done, but as you said it lowers the front end by 4" or so (with "standard" spindles) and more with drop spindles.
That drop is fine if that is what you want and the kits work pretty well if installed correctly, but a lot (I would say most, but I don't have hard numbers to back it up) are installed badly.
The 4-wheel leaf springs work just fine for any kind of normal driving.
If you want to discuss brake upgrades, I recommend starting a thread on that over in HiPo.
