My lowered 4x4 truck will likely seldom see anything off road, much more then driving through my yard.
The lowest part of my truck sheet metal has 6" of ground clearance (the front nose piece). It also has full suspension travel. Its a 4x4 because it gets driven through out the winter, and around here that can mean through some pretty nasty roads.
I'm retired that means that if we get more then 6" of snow, I don't have to go anywhere, and most of the town would be shut down anyway. It has been used in almost 6" of snow and it works just fine.
Its lowered because I want to park it in my garage, and because I don't want to have to climb up into it, and because I like it that way and its my truck.
In order to stay on topic, lots of guys that use the Mustang tank in trucks mount them off angle iron brackets bolted to either the top flange of the frame, or the bottom frame flange. Bolting to the frame flange allows some space between the tank and the bed floor to run the fuel fill someplace other then up through the bed floor, and that also protects the top of the tank.
I’m picking up a 79 RC 4x4 rear axel s easy but how did you lower the front? btw those parts are going in the Lil Red.
So your Lit Red is currently a 4x4?
A 4x4 rear axle sits under the spring, lowering it will require moving the front and rear spring perches on the frame. The front 4x4 set up will require a lot more effort, and really can't be lowered very much. The spring perches sit under the frame, and the axle sits under the springs. If you lower it much more then an inch, you loose clearance between the spring and the frame, and the axle and the crossmember & oil pan. You would have to de-arch the front springs.
My lowered 4x4 truck is a Dakota 4x4 under 49 Dodge pickup sheet metal. There is nothing going to compare to the 70s 4x4 set ups. A Dakota 4x4 front axle has a separate center housing mounted to the motor & frame, then separate 1/2 shaft axles, and outer bearings the axle shafts pass through mounted on upper and lower control arms with torsion bar front suspension, much like the 94+ full sized 4x4 Dodge trucks have.
If you want to convert to the independent front suspension, you could probably get the front end pretty low, the put the rear axle above the spring. You may have to notch both the front and rear springs for clearance.
Here is the best pic (pic 1) I have of a Dakota 4x4 front frame section The torsion bar adjusters are in the crossmember on the left side of the pic. Pic 2 is my truck.
