Lowered Leafs, Coils, Or Bags

[peeblesj]

Hey Guys,

I have been searching on here for a couple of weeks and I cannot find exactly what I am looking for. I currently have a 69 lwb with leaf springs and a flip kit. The leafs are really worn and need to be replaced.

My options are :

1. New stock leaf springs
2. New lowered leaf springs from CPP, POL, or Western Chassis etc and drop shackles
3. Coil spring/trailing arm swap
4. Trailing arm swap and bags

My thoughts are as follows:

1. New stock springs are about the same price as lowered leafs and shackles.
2. With my flip kit, I am sitting lower in the rear than in the front and would ideally like to bring the back end up 1". Flip kit got me about 6.75" drop.
3. We have a few parts trucks with trailing arms and mounts etc around the house so I could in theory salvage all needed parts to swap that over. But I would have to remove the posi in my leaf spring rear end and put it back into a coil rear end (or change the axle pads).
4. I would love to go with air bags now, but in the future that is more likely.

I want a more comfortable ride than I have now, hence the replacing the worn leafs. I have shocks for the drop already installed which helped, but still quite a rough ride.

I drive the truck multiple times per week to work. LS swapped, but will never be a major power plant. Just want a reliable driver that is comfortable.

So my questions are:
How is the ride on lowered leaf springs?
Are coil springs a better/smoother ride than leafs?
How is the ride quality of a basic air ride system (manual up and down in the front and back)?
Is a basic bag kit worth the money? I would be willing to spend around $1000 for a kit, but right now my budget does not allow for the auto leveling expensive kits.

I was all set to just replace the leafs with lowered leafs, but I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance you guys!