[TR] Front pinion bearing TR3A

[Randall]

> I have the car in the air for other reasons, and decided to 
> add the pinion sleeve and put in a new pinion seal to cure a 
> small leak.  While there, I notice the pinion shaft coming 
> out the front does wiggle up and down.  

Is that with the flange & nut removed?  If so, then perfectly normal.  The bearing is a tapered roller bearing, much like a front
wheel bearing.  Without the flange & nut to clamp the inner race in place on the shaft, the bearing slides forward a little and
loosens up.

But there should be absolutely no lateral movement with the flange & nut installed.

> Question 2:  can you remove the bearing with the differential 
> in the car, and how?

Not really practical, IMO.  Besides, that is the least stressed bearing of the four found in the differential.  Almost impossible
for it to be worn out, without the others being damaged as well.  Besides, if it has become loose, then the rollers and races have
shed bits of extremely hard metal into the differential oil, meaning they have torn up the other bearings, thrust washers, gear
faces and so on.  Replacing only the input bearing would be like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

And if you did somehow replace only that bearing, then you would also need to redo the shim pack to get the bearing preload just
right (plus have the special tool to measure the preload).  When I did the Stag diff, the new input bearing was quite a bit
different than the old one, requiring a change of some .030" in the shim pack.  Of course I started out moving by .001" at a time
...

Randall