I forgot to add, were it me, before I hacked things to pieces installing a R&P system that may or may not perform any better stock and could even handle worse, I'd spend some money on firming up and tightning up the existing suspension. Maybe different rate springs better suited to your needs, good quality shocks, make sure all the tie rods and ball joints are tight and maybe upgrade the rubber bushings to the poly jobs. Then throw in some lower profile tires and a change of wheel width if you desire, and if you're lowering the whole thing I bet you'll be surprised how much better it handles. You have to keep in mind that Dodge was designing a truck, a vehicle more suited to hauling heavy loads, pulling trailers or bouncing around a farm or construction site than a good handling performance machine. Yes, the half tons were meant more for highway and non-farm or construction use, but even with softer springs they were still identical in design to the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks that were meant for work.
I guess I've seen too many Studebaker cars that were hacked up in an effort to "improve" the handling of for an engine swap. All too often the final result was lousy or never finished and what remained was a junk car with a ruined frame and body cut full of holes. Sometimes you're better off simply upgrading what you have rather than reinventing the wheel.
