If the tires sat on driveway not moving for three years there’s bound to be a tire related issue.
Other wise Drain and replace gear oil in center rear and front diffs if haven’t recently and grease u joints and drive shafts for good measure
If The connector that wasn’t connected and disintegrated in your hand is near the driver side block drain tube it’s nothing to worry about and should remain disconnected.
If heater tee’s weren’t included on your first parts order prob a good idea to replace those while you’re refreshing the...
After inserting axle in and lining it up, I pushed the axles straight into front diff with some force my last go round and both popped right in on first try, no hitting anything was required, with no leaks maybe I got lucky. Once you get hub/knuckle out of the way things should go smoother
I kept the boot on. I used a 2 1/8” ID sleeve over the boot with a cap on the end. I placed my jack under that arrangement then placed a cap over the ball joint on the LCA then used BFH to drive the ball joint into place.