Good writeup, but, you fail to mention the process of actually removing the axle from the hub and the diff.

Some folks found the necessity to remove the shocks to get the wheel carrier down low enough so the distance between the carrier and the diff is increased to the maximum possible.........in order to get the splines to clear.

It appears that you had no need for that.......and the axles compressed sufficiently to simply remove them from the splines without any issues..........???