[454HO]

I just did a rear end swap a couple weeks ago. Went from 2.73 to 3.42 gears.

Procedure is pretty easy. Here is the way I did it:

1. Jack up truck and support with heavy duty jack stands
2. remove wheels and I remove drums too
3. unbolt the driveshaft at the rear yoke
4. unbolt shocks from axle tube
5. disconnect and plug the hydraulic brake line. It would be a good idea to get a new hose.
6. disconnect the parking brake cables. How you do this depends on whether you plan to reuse the original cables or if the new rear end has cables you want to use. To reuse your originals, you will need to completely disassemble the brakes all the way to the backing plates and then remove the cable end. If you are using the cables on the new rear end, then you need to disconnect both cables from the adjusting bracket that is just in front of the drivers side rear wheel.
7. unbolt the 2 U-bolts on each side. Have a floor jack supporting the rear end so it dosn't drop. Then drag it out.

Reverse to install new rear. Don't forget to bleed the brakes. It too me about 4 hours to do mine, but I was in no rush. But also none of my bolts were rusty or stuck. It may be a good idea to spray penetrating oil on all the bolts at step 2 so they have time to soak while you wrestle the parking brake cables.

Good luck, and put me in line for that 3.73 rear if you decide to get rid of it.