That's kinda what I was doing. But I had to quit after 3.5 hours because of darkness, and the winds were gusting to 50 MPH. The next day the winds were gusting at 65 all day, and today down to 35 winds, but with snow.

So I let it down on the tire, and left an oil drain pan underneath, with the old cover on, and some 60# rocks holding the drain pan in place during the wind.

In addition to a rust hole in the cover, I have leaking output shaft seal. When I went to pull that shaft, I saw the outer CV boot had grease. So rather than pull the shaft twice, I ran off to get a replacement half-shaft (warranty). We have an overnight low of 10F, so I think it will be a couple of days before I can go back to the job...hopefully the bugger drains out by then.

THANKS.