[special-K]

Tons?...Oh.one ton axles,right? If I already had 8-lugs I'd swap axles,then lift or visa-versa. But,since you have 6-lug I'd gather everything and do it at the same time.
I'm in a similar situation with my '72 that I want to lift 6",put 37s on,and Dana60/HO52 w/4.10s. I have the axles,springs,shocks,wheels,and tires now. I want to go all through the front axle and don't really have the money to right now. I'd just lift it and do the front axle later but my present gears are 3.54s and the truck is an automatic. I doubt I'll even want to drive it until the axles/ratio are switched anyway. I'm tempted to just swap it all in and mess with the front axle once it's in. I'll have all the hard work behind me and the truck sitting how I want it,but I need to rely on it as a back up. So,I'm being patient and waiting until I get the time and the money to tear into the Dana60 first. I could just swap the rear and not use 4wd,but it really makes sense just to wait and have it right all at once. I've been waiting a looooong time and it sucks.