Custom Coilovers for lifting a 2nd gen 5 lug

Alright, I'm sure there are plenty of people on here that have a custom set of qa1 or viking coilover shocks to lower their trucks. To those people, do you have a custom fabricated top mount for the eyelet top shocks, or do you have stud top shocks that are mated to the stock top hats? I'm wanting to lift my truck around 2.75"-3". I currently have 3" front spacers, but they have destroyed the ride quality of my truck, hints why I'm looking into coilovers. To anyone who has stud top shocks mounted to the stock top hats, do you have stock springs, or were you able to run aftermarket (like Eibach)? And if you are running aftermarket springs first: how?, and second: what spring rates would you guys recommend for a comfortable daily driver? I also need to know how long (full extension) of shocks I would need to achieve my goal of a 3"ish lift. I read a thread where someone had custom fabricated top mount brackets for eyelet top shocks that gave him a 1.75" drop at their lowest setting. This was with 17" (full extension) qa1 shocks and 550lb 12" Eibach springs. Would my line of thinking be correct if I assume that an 18.75" shock with 14" springs, at their lowest setting, would give me a stock ride height? This would leave me the whole coil sleeve to adjust up until I reach my desired ride height.