To lift the transmission, you do just as you said. Put a bottle jack on the back end of it and push it up a bit. You do not need to unbolt anything, the motor mounts will give you a little play, and the drive shaft will slide as necessary. Just be careful how far up you push it. Don't try getting more than a few inches, and pay close attention to the clearance between the top of the transmission and the body of the truck. Hopefully this will give you that fraction of an inch...

Jack the transmission tail where the cross-member was and the pan slides out! There are no transmission bolts or anything to remove. I already had the filter popped out and down, so I'm not sure if you have to do that first. Now to clean up this mess, reassemble and top up the transmission fluid!

i've gotta ask vatoDETH, did you remove the cross member first, before going at the pan? i know you mentioned that you're new to this, and i've worked on alot of cars/trucks (especially GM products), but, without getting that member outta there, you could make a deal with the devil himself, and it still wouldn't come out-this is true on any RWD GM auto transmission.
the biggest thing i've always asked was, "why didn't they put in a drain plug?". i actually found a pan with a drain plug in it. it was on a '86 700R4 i bought used for my '78 LB project, and promptly went on my Burb when i got rid of the p/u.

Yes, I did remove the Cross Member. Both Haynes and Chilton manuals said to do that.

I was thinking of installing a drain plug, but I found a better way to flush the transmission fluid. You disconnect the hose going from your transmission cooler to your transmission. Then you connect a hose from your cooler into a drain pan/jug (preferably with volume markings). You run the vehicle until the container is full. You measure what you have drained and add an equal amount back in. You do this until the fluid is clean or whatever you consider is a good flush. This will flush out your entire system, including what's in the torque converter.

Do this to get a complete flush before you change your transmission filter. You can also do this between transmission filter changes, to keep the system cleaner. If you overfill your transmission, or need to drain some fluid to add a "transmission additive", you can also do this.

I have not done this yet, so I'm not sure what size of hose to attach. I saw a mechanic doing this on an AstroVan. It looked to be a 3/8-5/16 inch hose. He was draining out of the upper port of the transmission cooler.

I also zipped off the exterior tabs on the front of the transmission fluid pan. They don't do anything, except get in the way. I could not get the pan back in with the filter on until I zipped off those tabs. I didn't have a lot of patience to keep trying and my grinder was right beside me.

you're not running your truck until the fluid stops coming out, are you? i hope you're using a small jug (like a 4L washer jug), and replace the fluid in the trans after each jug is filled. 'cause if you run the truck until the fluid stops coming out, you're gonna torch the inside of the trans.
personally, i'd be kinda weary of going to a shop that was doing something like this. why wouldn't they have the machine that does that, the proper way? i know that machine isn't cheap, but that's the business they're in, and you need the right tools for the job. this is why some of us have almost 10 grand in tools, and we don't even buy Snap On, Mac, or Matco (not me anyways, too pricey, hahahaha).

Yes, you only do a few liters at a time, replacing it between intervals.

The shop doing this is a one man show. His shop rates are about 60% of other shops, so he doesn't have a lot of high tech equipment/toys. He also charges actual time, not book time. He gets the job done at half the labour/shop time cost.

hi, did clean the metal fillings from in the pan after you zipped off the exterior tabs on the front of the transmission fluid pan?

How to disconnect tranny cooler return line?
 

How and where did you disconnect the cooler return line? I have a 96 4wd Blazer and went underneath today to do the tranny flush but discovered that I cant figure out how to disconnect the return tranny cooler line---I removed a skid plate like thing to get to the radiator and found a remote oil filter, the radiator shroud and lower radiator hose--but HOW do you access the cooler line from there?---do you disconnect at the transmission, how do you do that? is there a fitting? it wiggles so is it a rubber hose connection? Ive been getting ready to replace my valve body and filter following a flush but cannot figure this out

Pop your hood. When looking at the engine from the front of the vehicle, locate the top left hand corner of the radiator. The radiator cap should be there. Now look down the back side of the radiator and you will find the cooler line. You can disconnect it there, but you should put a fitting into the radiator and a line out to a suitable container (5 gallon bucket) as well as from the line itself into the same bucket. This just ensures that any fluid that comes out will be captured and not just pumped out all over the engine compartment.

--Thank You...is there any special thing about loosening the fitting? there seems to be some kinda plastic part to it---
--So I wont be flushing the cooler itself?
again thanks