havnt updated in a while so heres where I'm at in a nutshell..
ordered the steerin from James Duff, measured exactly how they told me, drag link was 2" too long, customer support said 'thats what happens when building a custom steering setup 1500 miles apart' which really bummed me out, cause before that the service was superior to anyone ive been dealing with. so had a friend cut an inch off each end, took it to a chassis shop to get it rethreaded, brought it home, burs on one side and i cant find a tap in this podunk town to save my life. so the front is done minus lining up the drag link and welding the saddle bracket to the tie rod.
I had ordered the WH 3.5" coils for fear the 5.5" coils would leave the struck sitting way to high after reading that most net ~8" with those coils. Installed the 3.5s and the spring rate just wasnt enough for the weight on the front of the truck from the bumper and winch. so i went back to the 5.5" coils and the truck is nearly level with the rear lift springs and shackles.
in the mean time the rear is together minus shock mounts, finished up the accessory wiring, still need to figure out why my trans temp guage stopped working, cleaned the junk out of the interior, started looking at some ideas to mount the high lift. got the rear bumper back on, need to find a single 5x4.5 to 5x5.5" wheel adapter for the meantime so i can keep a spare.