I pulled the transmission straight back on the pins and let the ball enage the rear of the transmission as far as it will go inside.
It's been a while since I did anything with a torque tube, but did you disconnect and remove the ball from the driveshaft slip joint? That's the only point of interference my ole brain can picture. I also recall hat to rotate the driveshaft down and out of the way, the rear wheels must be off the ground. Hope this helps...
