What am I up against for a 5.0 oil pan gasket replacement?

 

Not much.What you need to do is unbolt the motor mounts and any LIFE LINE or wires that will be in the way and then jack the motor up far enough to clear the cross member.Other than that its easy a little time consuming but not hard.

Do not let the fact that you need to jack up the motor scare you its nothing major.

 

I am going to do it! How can I make sure I don't have a rear main seal leaking?
Thanks,

 

make sure to use a one piece oil pan gasket, fel-pro makes it, its a lot easier and worth the extra money. clean all of the oil around the pan and just look to see if your rear main is leaking, if its leaking you will be able to tell

 

while you there replace that oil pump 30 extra bucks