Check out the home made pinion yoke holding tool below. I borrowed it from Rick (Ricks_67). He knew I was working on my 12-bolt and dropped it off at my house. "Here, you're gonna need this". Man, what a difference that thing made. Holds the pinion rock steady for checking backlash and is excellent for doing the crush sleeve. Just slide it over the yoke and wedge it onto the garage floor. This thing is super beefy! Thanks Rick:thumbsup:

Very cool!!!
That beats the hell out of holding the pipe wrench with your feet while you pull on the torque wrench with both hands.
Don't ask

Your welcome. I'm happy to help. It's a shame your not working on a 9" I made a stand to hold the centersection and you can take it completely apart and assemble it without taking it out. clamps to the workbench and clamp a 4" high piece of angle iron against the yoke and you can set backlash too.
http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/4733/2241501540029598972S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2241501540029598972BFwqeu)

Pffft, look at you setting up that beefy 9" compared to my spindly 12-bolt. Show-off!:D :D

Pffft, look at you setting up that beefy 9" compared to my spindly 12-bolt. Show-off!:D :D

ROFLMAO :)

I made a pinion yoke holder without any welding or cutting. Took a heavy steel fence T post like you can buy at Lowes, drilled two holes to fit two of the U-joint strap holes on the yoke, then used a bench grinder to make clearance notches for the yoke as required. Done. Bolts up to the yoke.

I also made my own pinion holder years ago. Finally got tired of fighting the big pipe wrench and made one from 1/2in steel plate. Then, I used about a 3ft length of round bar stock to make a handle. I'll take pictures and post them.

Oh yeah...

I just bought a 3-foot piece of 3/4" pipe and drilled 2 holes for 5/16" bolts... Tighten the bolts to the yoke, and the pipe provided plenty of clearance for the socket to torque the pinion nut... Ultra cheap and no welding required...