[Russell Ashley]

Gator, You don't have to worry about the crossmember clearance if you are keeping the original tranny. These trucks didn't originally have a crossmember back there where the brake m/c mounts. If you are definitely going to keep the straight axle you might as well go ahead and do the power disk brake upgrade while you have it apart to do the king pins. I used CPP kits and love the way my trucks stops. To me the worst part of the brake upgrade was replacing the brake lines but you probably should do that also. One thing leads to another when you start upgrading, LOL. I recommend against using the CPP power steering kit that uses a Chevy box though. I have it on my truck but now wish I'd gone in a different direction.
I don't mean to try to change your mind about what you want to do with your truck, but when I add the cost of the spring bushings and shackles, the king pin set , the disk brake upgrade, and the p/s upgrade, It would have gone a long way toward a Scott's or other MII front end. Just food for thought.