I faintly remember that when I replaced the rear yoke on my truck I had to remove the rear crossmember. The rear yoke was twisted off just below the fork portion of the rear yoke. The rear yoke was jammed tight into the torque tube. The only way to gain access to the end of the torque tube was to remove the crossmember. I then was able to lower the torque tube and clamp a vise grip on the busted off piece. I had to pound on the vise grip pretty hard to get the busted off piece out.
I remember that the repair manual did not specify to remove the crossmember when replacing the u-joint assembly, but it was a heck of a lot easier to do the job with it out of the way. It would really help removing the crossmember when removing the transmission.. To remove, I think there are four bolts on each end of the crossmember, at the frame rails..
The last picture: Air conditioned garage with really nice jack stands.
