Seriously now, after looking at the nuts/bolts that hold the bed on I'm not at all convinced that it would have been THAT much easier. Nevermind the fact that I'm doing this project alone (no help). Plus, I wanted to set the precedent of dropping the tank in case it needs to be done again at a later date. Also, I'm not sure, but I think having the tank out of the way allowed me more working space to work with those brake lines that are tucked up in there beside it.