Welp, here's what got done:
Shocks
Oil/Filter.
Rear tank removed. (whoa. Just whoa.)
Leak fully exposed on front tank (it's a smiley. Didn't take a pic, though.)
Removed cold-air snorkel (wasn't on list, but it was there anyway)
Checked air filter and beat the dust out of it. (also not on list)
Scraped some rust off the frame
Fixed the trailer light harness (4 pin connector)
Hooked up/zip tied a set of towing lights to the rear frame horns to make the truck "appear" legal so I could get it home.
Lost license plate on a back road, spent 2 hours searching for it.
Found it.
EOC'd most of the way home as much as I could because I had 13 miles to go and fumes in the tank (sputtering on acceleration).
Far cry from the nice list I had planned out for today, but those shocks were a friggin PITA. Actually, just one was. The passenger side. It wasn't rusted to the eye of the shock, it turned freely, but no matter how much I hit it, it wouldn't come out, and there was only about 8 inches of room to hit it with a hammer, so I couldn't get a good whack at it.
Finally walked away for a few mins, and then went back at it and just wailed the hell out of that bolt. It finally gave way.
Both shocks are now installed.
Found that the rear bumper "hitch" is made from 1/4" plate steel bolted directly to the frame, and should be roughly equivalent to a class II/III hitch. Sold my hitch to my Father, plan on having a better one installed later.
Pending local search for a new fuel tank. If I can't find one, I'll order one from AutoZone (Spectra replacement metal tank) and have it shipped to my door to be installed.
I also have to bring 4 tires back and mount them. I've got the week to work on it now.
I may have sold the bed off the truck, too. If the guy wants it for $500, or $400 and his bed (rough shape) I'll probably end up with a flat bed/stake body.