Between other commitments and the weather, the passenger side got put off until today.

WOW! What a difference one week and the opposite side makes!

On the drivers side, EVERYTHING fought me. Between lack of proper tools and never having done this before, it took me altogether close to eight hrs.

As difficult as the drivers side was, the passenger side was EASY. Took me just over AN HOUR to swap axles.

I think part of the problem too with the drivers side was that this thing has been wrecked on the drivers side. Any parts swapping done, stuff was just 'slammed home' rather than torqued to spec.

So, now, this thing rides SOLID. No more funky noises (some other noises I heard are gone now too).

Thanks for the help everyone. It took me awhile, but I got it done.