Gear swap this weekend

I assume you are doing the swap with the housing in the car? And you mention jackstands so I assume this is how you are lifting the vehicle in the air? Granted I only tried this once when I was just a kid on an s10 pickup but I couldn't get the pinion nut off and it was just a general pain in the ass working on the rear with it only on jack stands. It is a daunting task but I'd revisit it myself again now that I have a lot more knowledge, just take your time and make sure everything is where it's supposed to be.

Sounds like you're well prepared. I did it in college with tools so inferior, I might as well have been working with sticks and stones. All I can suggest is that the lower you get the axle, and the higher you get the vehicle, the easier it will be. Removing the gas tank would help even more if you're into that kind of thing.

Research, proper measuring tools, and patience is key, just like rebuilding any other precision assembly. If you've got those three things, you'll be fine.

Ahhh yes, Compressor & associated tools was one thing I did not have for my attempt at it! Hopefully it goes smoothly for you good luck.

When you finish yours come over and help me with mine .good luck

Do you have the gauge to measure backlash? Also, a hammer and a chisel and/or a slide hammer work wonders for getting the bearing races out. O'Reilly rents them out. Good luck!

If you are installing new pinion bearings, you can 'ream out' the old ones with a die grinder and stone, just enough that they slide on and off the pinion without needing the press. This way, you can add/subtract shims without needing to press bearings on and off each time. I ground ours open as such, and then kept them in case I do another 8.8 in the future.

You can also leave out the crush sleeve while checking.
I started out putting everything back together with all the stock shim amounts, and it was dead on.
The lash was on the tight side, but still in spec. I could have added another .010" on the pinion to loosen it, but let it slide with .011" lash. (.011-.016 is spec)

If you put the final tighten on the pinion nut with an impact, be careful, it is easy to crush the sleeve too much and get your pinion bearings too tight. I found out the hard way.

Also, when you check your lash, lock down the pinion flange with something, like a clamp.
I only mention this because I just left a thread where the guy checked the lash with the pinion free to spin. Lock down the pinion and move only the ring gear. I squared up on a ring gear bolt head in the vertical position. I couldn't find a nice square read on the teeth that I was comfortable with.