Yes, but find a decent drivable late model truck for $1,000? Even if you sell the 55 and add 1,000 to that money you may have to look for a while...
Sounds a little wishy washy to me, not to give you a hard time, (well... not much of one) you need to have better ideas of what you want, and what you really need the truck to do for you, this "would be nice" stuff won't cut it.
Let's look at your ideas:
Steering column
steering box (power would be nice)
4 speed (auto would be nice)
seat, maybe
springs
Steering column, your truck has one, what do you hope to gain with a new or different one?
Steering box, got one of those too, and if you can't decide on power or not, save your self the trouble and leave the original alone.
4 speed, got one already (one ton right?), very few (if any?) 4 speeds that fit your truck are overdrive. An automatic sounds like more work than it is worth for a ride to the golf course every now and then..
Seat, again, what do you want different?
Springs, you have some, if you want it less truck like you could try removing a few at a time.
All this may sound harsh, and is kind of, but you need a really firm idea of what you want your truck to do for you, and not just what "everyone else" does to "their" truck. But what you want for your truck, so it pleases you, not "everyone else"
Grigg
