Thank you! Do you think I could leave the drop bracket / diff drop and just upgrade the struts / springs and get rid of the ball joint extension? Thinking of trying to go w/ Bilstein 5100 and OME springs for front and rear. Or, would I have to remove everything?
I don't think that you'll be able to remove the spacers for the ball joints, and finding struts long enough to remove that spacer might be pretty hard. You could just upgrade struts and things with stock height components, to maintain its current height, and leave the spacers in. Many have done this to improve the ride on DB lifted rigs.
Removing a drop bracket lift is a pretty big undertaking. It is possible to do, but there are a ton of things to be aware of if you do try. The biggest thing is that most of them require you to cut out a chunk of frame to clear the front differential snout. In order to remove the lift you will need to have that piece of frame fixed or replaced. Look above the rear drop bracket on the front suspension, right at the rear of the lower front control arm, right where the driveshaft goes in and you will probably see where the cross-member has been cut out.
I have done this dance before, and I ended up replacing almost all of the suspension components on that truck and the bit of frame, brake lines, struts, springs, shocks, front and rear, and UCAs and knuckles (mine had replacement knuckles instead of ball joint spacers), it was a ton of work. It was also worth it to me, but YMMV.
Edit:
Are the rear spacers welded on the perches under the springs?
