I finally got it done! I never could find anything strong enough to hold the pinion housing while I tried to turn the nut. So I put the whole thing on a press. I put the yoke on the bottom and the pinion at the top. Manually pressed it together until i had very little play. Then torqued the nut on down until it was tight. Put the rear end back together and all is good! No noise!
thanks for all the help guys.
