Bread,
I am in the middle of installing my T5. The cab is off the frame and that means I can't test mine, but everything bolted up OK. Take a look at my BLOG -see my signature.
I'm guessing you have 14 splines on your T5 input shaft, right? It doesn't look like a Jeep shaft swap.
Your bearing retainer is about the right length. The sleeve part should be about 2 + 5/16".
Rather than cut the shaft to make the splines longer, maybe you could drill out about 1/8" of the inner splines on the clutch disc (on the tranny end of the clutch hub). Make sure the disc can slide freely on the shaft before you put it back between the flywheel and pressure plate.
I agree that most folks run the T5 just hanging off the back of the bell and retain the factory bell cross member as a support.
