I tried disconnecting the shock and sway bar. The differential was against the "floor" and literally raising the car. The wheels were dangling as far as I could get them and the axle ends still wouldn't clear that last little bit. Eventually, I found that it was unnecessary to disconnect other suspension components.

Hopefully, I can describe what I went through, from recommendation here on the forum. I raised the rear of the car and had the wheels suspended. The axles were installed and clipped at the differential and the assembly was resting on a lowered jack. I then inserted the axles into the hubs and raised the jack just enough to bolt the ends. All I had to do then was raise the differential and bolt it to the subframe and rear mount.

Basically, you bolt the axles in a "V" then raise the jack to invert the "V" to bolt the differential. I was surprised how easy it was once someone told me how. Virtually minimal prying to line things up.

(Note: You may need to raise and lower the jack several times to position the differential where it will meet the subframe evenly. All four studs need to insert at once. On mine, the tolerances were tight enough that starting two and trying to tilt the differential for the other two, just wasn't going to get it.)

Hope that helps.
Sam

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )