one thing is that the 617 is so long that with a little truck you either need to cut into the firewall or move the radiator.
from the looks of all those pics forced put up, they all had the rad pushed out.(except the nissan, w/ a 616.)

so if you went with a truck which had an inline 6 cyl, it would be easier to fit.

I have a friend in ME that is swapping a diesel into his toyota 1ton.
he has the v6 gasser out, and he has a 617+trans and also 4 cyl TD+ 5spd from a 'pup.

he said the 617 will fit from the rad support to the firewall w/ only 1" clearance, so the rad has to be moved. and there are issues with the oil filter tower.
He is going the isuzu route, because it fits better, and the 5 spd. it will be towed behind a truckhouse, so the Neutral Towing factor is a big benefit.

there are divorced T case's out there that can be mated up to any tranny. I reckon the 721.3xx would hold up to some offroad abuse.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.