i did patched the bottom of my  gas tank with jb weld last febuary, so far it still doing it job, looking for a replacement but still no luck finding one close to home

My brother is trying out the JB weld patches after picking over the pan and finding 2 spots where it had pin holes.... Yes its not planned to be a fix its just temp repair.  I got to thinking about the diff removal and figure if you pull the passenger strut with hub as an assembly you should not have to separate the axle from the passenger side of the diff and muck up the diff seal. Dropping the rack for the steering is no big deal as you don't actually have to remove it to get the necessary room to pull the pan. 

Martin

 I got to thinking about the diff removal and figure if you pull the passenger strut with hub as an assembly

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the way the lower ball joint is made,you cant pull the hub and strut as an assembly, as the ball joint/control arm will hit the cv shaft, you will have to remove the 2 lower strut bolts,caliper and the tie rod end to remove the cv shaft. i leave the ball joint were its at. unless it can be done by removing the top 3 bolts holding the strut... i know those have break on me on both sides (drill them out an install bolt and nuts)