why did I pull the yoke?

[Great-Kazoo]

The seal is getting changed for sure.

The diff shop should include it as part of their fee.

[DOC]

What should they charge for this? I talked to the guy he recommended and he said to take out the 5 bolts holding the pinion in and bring that part in to have it torqued. I am already pissed about having to pull the yoke for no reason when he could have taken my word that it was a recent rear end that takes 1310 caps. But I didn't know that I would open a can of worms pulling the yoke off. I know its not the entire 3rd member but just the pinion part. But I want to know if there is anything that will be a problem pulling that off? And why can't I just screw it back on and torque it back down with a torque wrench? I know that I have seen advice saying I need a inch pound torque wrench to get it right. However, the pinion angle is set by the shims in a ford rear end not the crush sleeve. I could tighten it down and be good right? Or is that a gamble with rebuilding a rear end which I was lucky with this one and don't really want to do again since I had to weld mounts measure a million times. Beg for the money from an asshole that owed it to me but acted like he was doing me a favor and still needs work on the leaf springs....
what would some of you suggest? Its just a bolt right or the weakness in the death star?

[BPTactical]

What the torque wrench measures on a fresh setup is pinion preload and that is set with the crush sleeve. On your setup which is a "run" unit if it is a hair light on the preload that shouldn't be an issue. What happens most of the time when the pinion nut is removed is people over tighten the nut and put too much preload on the bearings which fries them.
You can put it back on by feel and do ok. Clean the yoke and pinion shaft and put a light smear of oil on the seal and splines. Slip the yoke on and slowly slide it in until it seats. If it is snug tap it in lightly but don't wail on it. You just want to bottom it on the crush sleeve. Now take the old nut, clean it up and red Loctite it and using just a breaker bar(no impact) tighten it to a good two handed pull, 75- 100 # or so. Now turn the yoke by hand, it should not spin loosely nor should it be unduly tight.
Pinion DEPTH is accomplished with shims and that dictates the contact pattern on the ring gear. As long as the bearing and shims are not disturbed then that should not be a problem.