That's why I want to find a cheap replacement. When you tried did you put it on stands and take the shocks off and let the axle drop so it not in the way
its the panhard rod brace that is welded to the frame that is the problem. now i have done it more than a dozen times but i can remove the entire engine with trans and tcase hanging off the back in around 3 hours. so much easier than dealing with it in frame.