Tell me what you did to set the preload exactly. This is where I am confused. Did you remove the bearings? I'm not sure where the collapsable spacer goes.

 

i replaced the outer bearings and pinion seal. When i went to the auto parts store they told me i wont need a crush sleeve. and i was told to count how many turns the nut spins and for me it was 16 1/4 that seemed kind of loose so when putting the nut back on a turned the nut an extra 1/2 turn. im guessing the collapsable spacer goes in back of the bearing that i took out

 

Did you have a hard time gettin the yoke on and off? Mine was on there pretty tight and hard to use a puller and tap it with a hammer to slide it off. Tapped it back on too, even though the chilton guide said not to, it wasn't going on without it even after greasing the splines. My bearings were ok so I didnt want to take apart more than I had to. I just pulled the yoke, cleaned it and greased it, changed the seal and put it back together. I did use a new nut per the instructions. Not sure if it is truly necessary or not. I just put the nut on and tightened it down then torqued it to 160 ft-lbs. so far so good.

 

yeah i had to use the gear puller but its not that bad of a job....just smells lol