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I understand that in order to remove the tail cone, I have to lift the body away from the drive train to provide clearance.

I have read the procedure in the repair manual (in the brakes section) and the more detailed instructions written by Russell McIntire. They both say remove the tail cone bolt then loosen the rear cross member bolts by 5 turns.

Now the bit I don't undersatand. The manual says "If necessary, press down axle housing vigorously with an appropriate pipe". Russell says "Place a jack under the rear body out of the way of the work area to provide some support for the rear of the vehicle".

I can't get a picture of what's going to happen when I loosen the cross member bolts. Will the drive train drop as the body is held up by the suspension? Do I need the jack to lift the body after loosening the bolts? Most importantly, as a novice should I even attempt it?

I assumed someone would have chimed in by now. I have 712, so I assume there are differences. But here's what I remember from removing my tail cone. There is one bolt centered above the tail cone, which is really difficult to get at. That needs to be loosened, and eventually removed. (I actually could not get it loose, without cutting a hole in the truck bed!! Sh!t.) I had to loosen the next body mount bolts forward. I used an engine hoist, attached at the rear bumpers to provide support for the truck. I needed to lift it slightly to get the tail cone to clear the body.

I'm not sure if this will be of any help. I hope it is.

Thanks for the reply. I know what you mean about the tail cone bolt.

I decided to give it a go by gently loosening the bolts to see what would happen, then quickly realized that there's no "gently" about it. I couldn't loosen the tail cone bolt with a 50cm breaker bar and now I've got it soaking in WD40.

Soak it a long time. Rumor has it, the bolt can be removed without cutting the hole in the truck bed. But I cannot vouch for that! Good luck.