My dad is still trying to talk me in to 5" lift and 37 military tires. I have for sure come to the conclusion that a lift is needed as I have been Hung up twice. But I can't sell my self on 37" tires. His big push is lower rpm at cursing speed. I worry about rolling resistance and wind drag.
airplane pilot voice, "uhhhhh, folks thank you for flying with us to day, please sit back and enjoy the ride, and cover the ears of any children, we are approaching cursing speed!" awesome!!
i think if you changed to a 37 you would probably want to go a little deeper with the gears. i like the idea of 37's but 5" is too much. if its a beater, get the 37's and trim to fit. maybe a zero rate block to get the tire out of the rear of the fenders.
edit: actually nevermind me, you probably have 4.10's with that sm465, and 37's look like they would work well with that. and your original idea of going with a 52 front and shackle flip would work great. and keep it reasonably low. let me know if you do, i have a b52 kit from diy4x i am not going to use and a dana 44 flattop knuckle for crossover steering. do you ever get down into colorado?