I can give the cliff notes version, no torque values or such.
First order of business is to inspect the replacement differential to make sure it's good. If in doubt seek help in making the determination. Look for obvious chipped teeth, rotate the pinion, is may be a bit stiff but should be smooth. Rock it back and forth checking for freeplay. Just look things over for anything that looks hokey.
If the new unit passes inspection;
Lift the rear of the truck, clearing both tires and lower to jack stands.
I pulled the wheels.
Disconnect and get the driveshaft out of the way. Don't forget to wrap tape around the u-joint caps.
Spend a few minutes with a screw driver and scraper of choice removing decades of grime and gunk from the circumference of the differential and the bolts you'll be removing.
Place a drain pan under the differential and remove a couple of the bottom bolts on the front side.
Remove the 8 axle bolts on each side, be prepared for a small amount of lub to run out.
You can now slide the axles out 10" or so.
When the lubricant has stopped draining, remove all but one of the bolts from the front of the differential.
Now place a floor jack or better a transmission jack under the diff. A helper would be nice here, but not necessary if you're careful.
Remove the last bolt, lower the diff and roll it out from under the truck.
I don't think I pulled the rear cover since I'd had it off recently and cleaned the housing while changing the rearend lub. With the diff out of the way you can see what kinda crud is laying in the bottom and after a bit of cleaning tell if the rear cover needs to come off for a thorough wipeout/cleanout.
If you are very careful and lucky and didn't damage the differential gasket, you might be able to reuse it. I did. I also reused the metal axle gaskets, taking care to put them back in exactly the same orientation they were originally in.
Best plan is to have new gaskets and lub on hand as you reverse the process and put things back together.
I highly recommend 6 pt sockets since the fasteners will likely be quite tight and crud welded in place. The axle bolts have shallow heads and you don't want to round em off.
A Google search will pull up lots of information to fill in the blanks in my quicky how-to.
Good Luck
RonR
