if you can spend 7 - 12K on a wrecker, why not trade in for a similar year / mileage 4x4? how upside down are you, or is your truck paid off? If its paid off, you should be able to get between 8 and 12 for a regular cab 2WD with less than 100K miles. If its a extended cab, a bit more.

if your truck is paid off and you got 8K, and have 12K to spend, you can easily get a 4x4 extended cab. if you want a regular cab, it'd be even less.

 

If you do your homework and figure out how much time is involved then double it and you still think you want to do it then go for it. I have cut 2 el caminos in half and made one so nothing is impossible. Of course this was done when I was much younger and had plenty of time and something else to drive.

Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a different truck and sell yours, other thing is that if you do this it has a sense of accomplishment that "hey I did this". Look at doing it in stages, Install the front axle, then instal the t-case, then work out the wiring. A lot of people will tell you it is a waste of time, but if it is something YOU want to do then do it.

 

another suggestion is to solid axle the front end to be cheaper. you will still need the tranny, x-fer case, and probably a few other things but you can get a dana 44 for a few hundred bucks. it will probably be cheaper and easier to set up than the ifs front end.