Considering using a 1/2 ton axle are ya?....Yeah, it'll probably take the abuse of extra diesel weight for a while, as long as you keep a handfull of ball joints and wheel bearings in stock. My old '78 F150 was a tuff truck(wish I never sold it) and it had the FE 390 in it, the rig sat on 35" mudders with six or so inches of lift. The FE blocks are as close to "diesel" weight your going to get with a gasser engine(700-800lbs I think). The front axle took alot of abuse from me, ie: hole shots in 4-wheel drive dumping the clutch at 5,000 and roasting all four tires,..the truck also got launched of some steep RR crossings, with good air time I might add. After all the beatings that ole' girl received she never let me down. That was a dana 44, 5-lug front axle. If you have one of these at your disposal, hey it might work out, then again you might eat up wheel bearing and ball joints every few months/years...depends how ******* equipment you are i guess.
If anyones reading this and wonders why a 1978 F150 had a 390 in it, it's because the 300 I-6 that was in the truck from the factory decided that 6 connecting rods and pistons, is one too much, then chucked #6 connecting rod out the side of the engine block. This was after some very degrading abuse in the mud pit the day before. Believe or not the old ***** kept running on five cylinders with all the coolant and oil spewing out the side. Drove a couple miles before she got too hot and tied up. The truck shook pretty violently with the engine out of balance, but it did still run.
or maby a D120 
up front I will be single handedly responsible for the earth ceasing its orbit of the sun, the suns gravity pulling the earth in, and our subsequent death by fire. 
