Lowering a one ton... should be interesting! I'm sure there are plenty of ways to lower a truck without hurting the wallet, but all the ways I can think of would render the truck almost useless after the mods. The ride quality would be dangerously affected, seeing as how the ride quality in an old truck like this is not the greatest in the world to begin with.

But then again, I'm not a suspension expert just some guy on a computer. Good Luck with your project! I hope it turns out good for you.

I guess the cheapest way to lower a leaf spring suspension truck like this would be to do an axle flip. This is where you move the springs from the top of the axle to the bottom of the axle. This will give you ~4" drop (or the width of the axle). If done correctly, this lowering technique can be one of the safer "cheap methods". I would look into some axle flip kits.