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By the time you have enough removed to access the gear set everything will be loose that holds the diff in the car.
Besides it's much more pleasant to work on it at the work bench.
I did my pickup diff last fall, laying on a creeper and my car diff this spring at the bench.
Do you have to pull the rear end to swap ring and pinion,or is it something you can do while still on car.
Yes you need to pull the diff.
You need to know what issues were present in the year you have. You need to have NOS Toms/ US gear or GM pre 80's. All new gears are imported now, some are good and some are not.