I was planning on pulling my oil pan today and have been reading alot on getting it out of there while its still in the truck. In order to do that I've decided to go the route of taking the front diff loose and lowering it, removing the front cross support, steering stabilizer and 1 or 2 other things that I can't remember at the moment. So my question is, do I really need to put the truck on stands even though I already have about 18" between the frame and ground? For me, there is plenty of room and height to move around and work. Or do I need the front suspension to hang down without pressure on it?

 

As long as you have enough room, no there's no reason to jack it up. If the tires are staying on the ground there's no reason to slide jack stands under it.