Noted on the rear well liners - that's a great idea too.
A little concerned about the comments regarding room to remove the front - could be an X-Drive / RWD difference as well. I've seen a few videos where people pop the front out but one of the control arms comes out every time. I'll watch it a few more times
The video I posted concerning rear strut replacement (stock for stock) shows the different orientation of the rear top hats and would be helpful to illustrate what you mean. I *think* I viewed the video enough that I have my rears already built properly for L/R. Time will tell.
On the air guns - as far as I know the shock shafts are allowed to turn - they seem to in the front when the steering is turned. As long as they turn gently I think it's all OK. I'm sure mine were turned by hand in either the top mount fastening and the preload setting procedure so far, so I'm hoping it's all good. KW didn't include instructions saying DO NOT TURN, they just said no air guns. Your notion of clamping under the bump stop makes sense. For $10 I bought the wrench
We'll see how this quarantine goes. I'll also have to check with whoever my chosen corner balance / alignment shop is to make sure they can do their job before I do the swap.