Finally got a chance to work on it again last night. I put the new pinion seal in, put the yoke in and snugged up the nut. A little to tight at first, I couldn't rotate the pinion by hand. I backed it off a bit. .
the crush sleeve (pinion bearing spacer) needs to be replaced once it has been crushed beyond the proper rotating torque of the pinion If you want it to live. I've added a shim to the spacer before to reuse it but not on anything I would guarantee.
