I guess I don't know what I am talking about. Maybe we will see more people running this mod, especially if it is so easy.
Hmm. So, first, any comments or contradictions aren’t meant to be condescending or anything.
I think your concern about the alignment rack probably is coming from concern about driveability and safety, and that is totally valid.
Your toe in (or toe out) shouldn’t change, we’re not messing with the tie rod, or at least we shouldn’t be. So that should not be a factor, and is one of the important reasons for checking overall alignment.
Having your axle perpendicular to centerline of the frame is important, but if your fabricating (or waterjet or laser table) your brackets and they are all the same, sitting on the same tube, that shouldn’t be out by any significant measurement.
Camber shouldn’t be affected unless we’re bending the axle in the process some how.
Caster is the main thing we’re looking at when moving the arms to the top of the axle, and that is simply rotating the axle housing to tilt the pinion up or down more, but we’re doing it so that we find ideal caster, and the brackets can be welded in place when the ideal angle (I think it’s about 3*) is achieved.
There are some other things that could be considered in doing this work. Installing a DC shaft and pointing the pinion at the T-Case, and a cut and turn of the outer ends of the axle to get perfect pinion angle and camber. That would be more work but totally doable. Moving the axle forward for fender clearance for larger tires, and a longer and more stable (and weight balanced) wheelbase is also a gain. I would just redrill the stock frame bracket with a hole forward of the original for the upper end of the radius arm.
But... if your doing all this cutting and welding and crap. Well, upgrade your wheel studs from 6 of them to 8 of them, upgrade your brakes, upgrade your steering rod size and axle shaft size while your at it (just put in a one ton axle) and be done with it.