I put the truck on jack stands and got the tires 6" off the ground. This allowed me to have enough clearance to get under and around the front end suspension. I then pulled the throttle body assy, valve cover, egr valve, starter and engine mount top nuts. Then I raised the engine by the front lifting bracket. Removed oil pan bolts and got oil pan dropped onto crossmember. Shifted oil pan over, then removed pickup tube. Hammered on spacer plate in the right spot to fold bottom parts out of the way. Only then was I able to remove oil pan. Found that the gasket had deteriorated back to its natural form. Small ***** of rubber, which had totally blocked the pickup screen.
Another telltale sign for me buying this truck was the only oil leak on the engine was the oil pan gasket.