yep. everything requires excessive amounts of disassembly.
wait till you change the $5 front axle seals... take the ENTIRE front end apart include removing the carrier. change a $5 seal. reassemble. takes many hours, or days.

 

Automotive engineers universally HATE mechanics. I think its genetic. They stay up nights conspiring to find ways to make the mechanics life difficult. Hidden bolts. A mixture of fastener types. Standard. Metric. Allen head (which also come in standard and metric). Torx bit. (which they haven't managed to screw up yet.) Six point, twelve point, EIGHT point...... Bolts in places where you can't possibly get a tool on it. At least, not without disassembling half the truck. (of which, not a single part are you changing.....) Random wiring harness changes from year to year, such that a transmission from one year truck, won't fit the years to either side of it, without replacing stuff inside the trans......

I could go on.... (and on, and on and on....) but, you get the general idea.

 

This is what beer is for! LOL The cause and solution to all of lifes problems.

 

That's exactly how I feel now too. I could vent on and on with what I've had to replace this summer.

 

WOW mine is leaking a little too maybe ill just deal with it for now i only lose a half qt in 3500 miles...i run mobil 1 high milage

 

when i did my oil pan gasket i didnt take off my stater or inspection cover it could be bc mine is a off-road edition but i dont know for sure but it was tight as hell getting it on and off

 

Mine is the offroad edition too and I got it off, but can't get it back on.

 

i know was a bit** to get back on i had to twist the pan and work the pan back and forth until it went by the inspection cover and trans cooler lines

 

I ended up not getting to work on it until again today. Anyway, today, I took the starter off then the inspection cover, and got the oil pan back on no problems. Then it wasn't too hard to put the inspection cover and starter back on. So I finally got it all back together. Thanks for the help guys.

 

good deal. i can't figure out how you got the oil pan off without removing the cover in the first plate. i tried and tried, but could not get the pan unhooked from the plate.