Well first my own philosophy is that it's your truck and you should do with it as you please. Of course I won't hesitate to tell you when I think you're making a safety mistake and may say much more. But it's still your truck and I've taken no offense.
I'm not the only person here who is also a member over at KillBillet, though I don't think there are many of us. I enjoy looking at the pictures and the ideas, but my own ideas tend to be (hopefully) a little more polished and refined. As a hot rodder I'm more of a HAMBer than a rat'r though I lean a little more modern than fits well there either.
The first comment I'll make about that guy's truck is that he started with a 1/2-ton. He started with a 116 inch wheel base while you are starting out with 164 if your 4400 is still its original length. Yours is much longer and to achive the same look you'll be taking out more than just a couple of feet.
He appears to have pushed the cab back about 1 foot, and z'd the frame both in front and behind the cab. He is using the orignial suspension in modified form, including flipping the front axle. He says more than once that it rides like a go cart and I suspect he means as harsh as one with no suspension because that's what a flipped front usually ends up driving like.
If you are looking for a replacement cab I'd suggest looking also for a lighter frame and suspension. The 1/2-ton frames just aren't that hard to come by, and would be much better suited to what you're trying to do. I know where a couple are in my area, which is Western Washington, so not close to you at all, but if they are laying around here, they are laying around there too.
The finished truck will weigh much less and thus perform better. You'll be dealing with much lighter material when modifying the frame, which may be easier, and when based on a 1/2-ton front axle, the brake conversion is easy.
You asked about disk brake swaps to start this thread off, but really your project is broader than that and is more of a HiPo forum thing than a Big Bolts thing. You might start some discusion there about z'ing and axle flipping.
I'm happy to continue the discussion around your frame mods, suspension mods, and brake mods. It helps a great deal to understand what you are trying to achive.
I'm blessed with several months off work right now and engaging in these dialogs is what is keeping me sane. So please keep asking questions and pushing the envelope. I need it!
