Funny I came across this thread. I had the same idea some 25 years ago. After deconstructing my 57 I had the whole thing mocked up, then life got in the way and I never finished it. I chopped about 2 feet off the back of the frame and used spring hangers off of an early blazer to remount the rear axle. The frame width was pretty close but thing sat really high and the axles were pretty wide. Overall I think it would have worked out pretty well, if big trucks are your thing.

After all those years I still have the truck (in parts) and have been rebuilding it over the past two years. I decided after looking at a bunch of those trucks on the web to go low this time. You guys will probably hate it but I'm using an s-10 chassis. I wanted 4 wheel drive with a low stance. (I live in snow country). I'm selling the highboy running gear now.

If I had to do it over again I would definitely keep the original frame and just hang some axles and a transfer case on it. (The way I originally had it built - with jeep wagoneer running gear!) In my case my original frame is long gone and anyway I'm building a hot rod - not a restoration. Good luck with whatever you decide.