I got the big bearing pressed on and races installed in the housing. I was playing around with the pinion, and noticed that the little bearing fit is really tight, it almost doesn't start on. It's going to have to come off at least once, once I get the pattern right. But to remove the little bearing to put the crush sleeve in, the only way is to pound the pinion out (I assume). Isn't that kinda rough on the rollers and races?

I use a deadblow to tap it on enough to start the nut, then cinch it down with a impact till it's about the right tension.

Then you gotta tap it out, and catch all the piece's.

Should I use the yoke to push it on? That will make getting the nut started really hard...

Slide the pinion into the housing, push the small bearing on till it stops, place the yoke on the bearing and hit the yoke with a deadblow, while holding it from the otherside, till you can start the nut and washer.

It's the worst part in my opinion, but, it all has to be done.

Basically assemble the whole enchilada minus the crush sleeve.

So while doing iterations of the main bearing shim adjustment, you have to beat the thread end of the pinion to remove it. Does that ever muff the bearing? I was going to used a solid spacer with shims, it's sounding more appealing to round up the stuff to crush a crush sleeve!

I use an old nut to protect the threads. And if you were to slam the bearings around, it would hurt them, but by seating the appropriate bearing in the race to minimize the impact, all goes well.

I always polish the pinion shaft a little to make the bearing go on and off a little easier. You can use a brake cylinder hone inside the bearing to loosen it up a little. You don't want the bearing to slide on and off easy, but you can make it go a little easier so that you don't damage anything. Just be sure that you hold the pinion straight when you drive it out of the bearing. If you let the pinion hang down then the edges of the rollers might dig into the race and damage the race.