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Scooter, The springs are usually attached to the differentials with u-bolts. First thing you want to do before anything is measure fender lip to the floor at the wheel center on all four corners, this way you have a reference point. You can support the truck by the frame and put a jack under the rearend to help hold it up. Once you have the u bolts off, you sill see a center bolt holding them all together. I usually put a c clamp on them for safety before I take out the bolt. You can take the bolt out to remove springs from the spring pack. You might have to get a shorter bolt to put the pack back together. This will make the truck sit a little lower but you will use air springs to raise it back up. You are correct, I would use Firestone air springs. You could do a weld on setup or buy the Firestone Ride-Rite kit for your truck.

Scooter, If I am understanding correctly, you are after a better ride but want to keep your truck as useable as ig currently is. Its really not a problem and you can do it without doing a full blown link setup. Linking the suspension would be nice but not needed. You could remove a couple of leafsprings out of the packs to soften the ride and then install air springs to get your load capacity back. This will give you a good ride and still have load carrying capability.