I don't know what the shop time is, but yes...unfortunately the heads do have to come off to remove the lifters.

A top end job looks like a royal pain, but is actually not horribly bad to do on those trucks. I've done a couple, my approach is...Pull the radiator and fan off, unbolt the top of the core support, and that gives a pretty comfortable place to sit/stand for most of the work. There's no need to be hanging over a fender the whole time.


I probably wouldn't just do lifters without slipping in a little better cam and a set of valve springs at the same time, but that's just me...I can't leave anything alone unless it's under warranty.