Do you have the truck on jack stands? If so, be sure to support the frame, not under the axle, and the pan should come off without dropping the tie rod. With weight on the axle and springs, the tie rod will be 2 or 3 inches closer to the oil pan.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
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