Best way to upgrade my 88 Pickup 4wd?
 

Hi everybody im looking to upgrade my 88 pickup i recently purchased 2 weeks ago, i want it to be last the rest of my life. how should i upgrade? ive been told to completely switch to diesel, approximately how much would such a thing cost?
i have mechanics in my family who i trust but will still charge me just as much as anywhere else.
if anyone has the time to respond to me and tell me whats best for this truck id greatly appreciate your time
im sorry this post might not make sense, im new to this, i need help just dont know where to start.

Story
Purchased the truck it ran fine but was extremely bumpy due to the large bald tires. i drove it to Houston 90 miles when the tire blew on me and i had to get it flat bedded to my home.
the next morning the truck was having trouble turning over. misfiring, i left it alone and looked up the best price for some new shoes.
the following day i had the tires put on and a diagnostic done to the truck. the intake tube had leaks. it was replaced and the truck has had no problems since.

the rear is welded so id like to have that replaced. so i don't run out of tires so often
however ive been playing with the idea of putting a diesel engine in and want to know what that all would cost. or to even find out if it is worth it.
please help me, im not educated in this field but with your help i can be as i am passionate about it and finally have the time to be. thank you in advance for your words and time.

You don't say how you plan to use the truck.. Daily driver?? Weekend wheeler?? Both worlds??? 6 cyl. 4 cyl???? Auto, manual tranny????

Get that welded rear end out of it, for sure.

Pics!

If it has a 22RE, KEEP IT.
If it has a 3.0 V6 - consider a 3.4l 5MG swap. (because if you have to ask... that is the easiest. Still entails wiring harness and a LOT of electrical stuff.

Remove welded 3rd.
Remove that crazy lift.
Get some 3.75" backspacing steel hole rims and 33s.

That alone will make it so darn good. Can't imagine driving that Ford brotruck from the 80s look alike monster. No Diesel gonna help you there. :p

i want the best of both worlds. i plan to use the truck to move wood and whatever needed when i buy a piece of land in the future. so i want to be able to drive it on the road without issue and use its 4X4 capabilities when needed. its a standard v6 3.0. thank you for your quick response! how much would it cost to get the welded rear diff replaced, and is it worth to switch to diesel engine?
also, can i add an album to the conversation, i have all the pictures of my truck in an album.
thank you all for taking your time out of your day to help a dummy. im an uneducated infantryman trying to educate myself, thank you again!

when i was stationed in hawaii this is the look that everyone had to handle the terrain out at the offroad areas. i like the look. thanks for the help tho

Nice truck!
Those tires are very heavy IMHO, you go from 0 to 60 mph in 35-45 minutes with those, I guess.

yes i dont go too fast, i dont mind it, however if its a performance issue then they have to go. does it hinder anything other than speed?
thank you for your time

If you like the look of it, that is a reasonable, it's your truck. I like to put 33"x10.5r15 in mine, and I'll need to re gear with those. If I remember correctly, the bigest tires I can install to keep almost the factory performance with the original gears is 31"x10.5r15 (don't quote me on that).
There are other components that 'suffer'with bigger tires besides the performance and fuel consumption, read this article to have a quick idea:
https://www.aamcocolorado.com/increa...-transmission/

Anyway, it depends what you want to do with your truck and the money you want to spend to mod it. If this truck's you DD, how many miles you plan to drive everyday, the kind of road and terrain, etc. There are so many variables. You want an diesel engine, it sounds good to me. Can you justify the swap? If you can't but you don't care to spend that money, it sounds good too. I think you need a plan before taking any action, but what you need right now, if you plan keep driving the truck daily, are safer tires, you already blew one, don't take more risks.

Hey, not knocking you for the look. I kinda think it embodies 80s USA tuning perfectly!

The steering angles are fubared, it is very top heavy, you are putting way too much strain on axles and CVs. If nothing has broken so far - and you haven't flopped it, you aren't trying hard enough.
You have "no" power, a hill on a freeway might as well be a giant wall.
Just trying to help - that truck is not made for those huge rims :)

Like a few have already said, those rims are going to wear your steering components out faster than a 5 cent lady of the night on payday. But to each their own. I would defintely plan on budgeting to replace everything in the front end soon.