I put mine in by the book, with the seals and had them on there when I reassembled the truck and I can't think of anything they got in the way of or would have been easier if they weren't there. I assume there is some reason they were installed the way they are but can't think of one other than maybe that area they cover is slightly different on each truck after assembly so the factory put them on later to fit to the truck they were going on.
I guess you could weld them and if you are wrong, then you will have an answer for the next guy that asked. Thats the beauty of this forum.
