servicing tranny and rear end

03 denali.
I want to service the tranny and rear.
do I need to drop the shift linkage?
it looks to be in the way.

also, the rear cover has that cross bar blocking in, do I need to remove that to drop the rear cover ??

thanks!

On my 2000 Yukon I had to remove 2 bolts on the shift linkage to get the tranny pan off. I can't help you on the diff question since I had no problem getting off the diff cover.

//2000CAYukon