I have an 01 Ram 1500 that had 4.10 gears that I am upgrading to 4.56. I installed the new pinion and all new bearings all seemed ok I torqued unti I got 15 inch pounds but the pinion is so tight I could barely turn the pinion. I went ahead and put the carrier in and got the proper backlash set but sill seemed that eveything was too tight still so I took apart and installed a new crush sleeve to try again thinking I over tightened the pinion with the same result. I compared the original sleeve to the new one I replaced they were almost identical. I am assuming I should be able to turn the pinion by hand when I have the proper preload. Any idea's or comments?

 

Are the bearings well lubricated? If they are dry, under pressure, they feel kinda crunchy, and aren't real happy about turning.