Maybe I got lost in your post (imagine that), but I thought you were going Toyota axles?
Plenty of gear options there, and remember you're wheeling an automatic now.
Steve, my two cents being a former gutless 4 Runner owner. Get your gearing in the diffs, and forget about the reduction box. They rob a bunch of power, and that's the last thing you need.
Lemme put it this way, I'd take the GM 6.5 WAY before I'd take a 6.0 Ford and I hate the 6.5.
The 7.3 Powerstroke is a work horse, finding a nice one is big the problem.
Fronts are a park and turn combination, and the side markers are just a park. You'll need the three wire for the front, and just two wires on the side marker.
If natural gas is an option, that would be your best route. It's a pain running the plumbing, but oh so nice when it's done and you never run out of fuel.
I run an 80K btu natural gas unit in my well insulated 1000' garage, and it'a more than enough. I used to run a 40K btu kerosene in my...
The fumes will kill ya using diesel, but you'll die warm. ;)
All of the big oil wholesalers carry Kerosene in 55's, if you can use that much. When I was using it, Jensen Oil on Redwood, and Cardwell on State would sell it by the gallon.
I'd keep the rattle can on the "flare" portion, and just shoot the small triangle area orange, just so it blends in better.
I totally forgot about that time crunch issue.