[PanelDeland]

I was thinking about this as I did my sat.am walk thru the JY.I did come up with some suggestions for making the truck a bit quicker.
1.Check into using a "Porterbuilt crossmember.It has the advantage of being smallrer and I assume lighter than the factory setup and also driver friendly with rack and pinion.Of course tubular control arms and such would also lighten the front end.
2.Look for 3/4 ton trailing arms if you're not going to a 4 link.They are reinforced.Or reinforce yours.
3.Check to see if the roll bar needs to be in the cab or if it can be a outside unit.Space is at a premium in these trucks.
4.Fuel cell and battery behind the rear wheels.
5.U.S.Bodyworks makes a tilt fibreglas front clip.It's a competetion only piece but might work with some structural bracing for minimal street use.Check for doors also.
5.A big cube engine(smallblocks can go to about 454 nowdays with an aftermarket block) with tranny of your choice and a gearvendor OD setup.You could probably get away with a 4.56 gear ratio for racing and be somewhere around a 3:73 for street(I didn't do the math)
6.I would think for power and street manners a turbo and Fuel injection would be the way to go.
7.If you really want to go "whole hog" you could drive the truck while building up the drivetrain and at the same time be building a custom tubular frame.
8.Run the biggest 4 core radiator and electric fans you can fit in there.And a seperate tranny cooler and maybe oil cooler to help "beat the heat"
These are just some things I would do if I were to build a serious street/strip truck and had the cubic $$$'s to do so.Much of this assumes you have the welding skills or a way to aquire them and the skills to implement major changes in the whole truck.