How were you able to run 35s without lifting it ?
With my 33s I can't realy complain about the speed even on freeways. I did'nt buy that car to drive fast anyway, I have other toys for high speed
But I can run at 75mph without having the impression to kill the engine.
All the K5's I saw during my vacation in the US were lifted...
i'd like to have a nice look but want to keep a really strong and reliable truck.
I ran 35s with minor fender cutting, which most people wouldn't even notice unless they stuck their head in the wheel well. At one point it had something like 36x16.50s on it, but that required some more cutting. Still not exactly obvious. As I've mentioned in the past, a lift doesn't make the fender openings any bigger, so a functional suspension (without lowered bump stops) will require some cutting.
I also have much faster vehicles, and like driving fast, but being a low rpm person I didn't like to see the tach show over 2,000 rpm. Maybe 2,200 for short periods. Still, I wanted to keep up with freeway traffic, which around L.A. means 75-80 mph. Unless it's at a standstill.
All the K-5s you saw were lifted? And I thought you were just here, not in the late Eighties, early Nineties. Back then, for some reason, many thought that it was a good idea to run 44s. Those lifted ones could be had for very cheap a few years later, once the owners realized what they had created.
Since you're after "the look", yet want really strong and reliable, start shopping for axles, eliminating the slip yoke, etc.. It won't be cheap, but that's what you'll have to do.
Oh, according to Gale Banks, you'll reduce the life span of your engine by about 3% if adding a turbo. A properly engineered setup, that is.
If I were you, I'd take a picture of an M1009 (or photo shop a K-5) that looks like you'd want yours to look. Then tape the photo to the dash and pretend that that's how yours looks. It'd be a heck of a lot cheaper and easier. Plus, you could easily "change the look" of it, every day if you wanted to, without all the drawbacks of having to do it for real.
Easy for me to say, but that's because I've been there, done that, and I'm no longer willing to live with the consequences of having a lifted vehicle when the lift serves no purpose.