Update:
I finished the rearend swap today
Like you guys said, it was super easy. I started on Friday, and worked a few hours each day until this afternoon when i finished it up. I recruited a friend to help me so it went pretty easy.
The u-bolt nuts came right off after a night's soaking in PB blaster. I did have to put a cheater bar on the 3/4" drive, but a firm push with both my feet broke them loose.
They were still rust welded in the trailing arms though, so i had to cut them off with a angle grinder and a cutoff wheel. Like Paul72 said, they popped because of the pre-tenision and scared the crap out of me, lol.
I was able to beat the remanats of the U-bolts out of the trailing arms after another night's soaking in PB. Then the new one went in without a hitch.
I did have to use heat on the tracking arm though....the nut didn't want to come off. Even with a little propane torch's help it was still a PITA.
The new one dosen't howl or anything, dosen't leak yet (knock on wood!!), and the brakes even were in good shape from what i could tell (couldn't pull one of the drums off).
And i did actually enjoy putting it in....remids me of why i love these trucks so much...easy to work on!
Once again, thanks for the help
