Are you talking about a 1st gen VE pump 6BT 12V or the more colloquial "12V" from a 2nd gen with a P-pump? I've P-pumped my 24V and it's great.. the mechanical injection action has a beautifully-linear fueling curve for softly loading of the tires over rocks/ditches and other slow-crawl obstacles.
I carry a spare fuel shutoff solenoid, and zipties if that fails.. I also have an external voltage regulator (from an early-80's gasser Dodge) mounted and wired in (on a toggle switch) but not normally-operating, just in case the ECM decides to act up and not tell an otherwise-working alternator to continue charging. From what I can gather, a P-pump 12V 1994-1998 truck still has the charging behaviour controlled by the PCM.
Mine being a converted 1998.5 24V, and like a lot of other P-pump 12V's out there.. the minimum electrical load of having an electric lift pump, as well as worst-case-at-night running headlights too.. you might last you a couple hours at best in order to get out from wherever on trail your alternator stop charging for whatever reason. If you're still running a mechanical lift pump, I would be less worried about it.. but in that case I'd probably entertain a 1-wire internally regulated alternator.
Between my 2ng gen and two other friends' rigs.. I've been through about 6 different versions of front suspension, from swapping factory coils, to coil spacers, to 4 different aftermarket coil springs and 4 different control arm configs.. and 4 different rear leaf setups with many different spring rate combo's... if you're talking about a 2nd gen, don't hesitate to DM me and ask and chassis/driveline/suspension questions.
Still talking specifically 2nd gens... the great thing is that these trucks "already came ton axle swapped" from the factory, and with a Dana 60 front there are more aftermarket options than you can shake a stick at. Dana 70 or 80 rear, they are plenty strong.. only hiccup is its size and getting hung up on rocks.
They're also coil sprung and link'd front which gets you longgggg way further in capability and general offroad ride enjoyment than the 1st gen leaf front trucks. They're a great platform to start with, or even just to use as-is... if one can wrap their head around it being an "old truck" (and the perceived reliability issues associated with that) as well as being a "big truck for a lot of trails".
Cheers,
Joe
