Well, this is the reason why the manual states two different preloads. One for new and one for used. Are you using a crush sleeve at this point? I don't see the front outer race to be a major issue if there are no signs of spinning. Probably it sets itself under preload anyway.
To set the pinion nut i made a tool to hold the flange. This way i can accurately approach the torque limit with 10Nm steps (which is about 1/8" or 3mm movement if you mark the nut/pinion with a sharpie)
No its still Weir Eliminator with shims. Yes I have a holding tool which i made last year. Ok here is the full rundown. I got my impact and proceed to impact the hell out of that nut, and it wont budge. So I removed the diff. Checked the preload, it was basically almost 0 preload. With the diff off the car, I screwed the flange holding tool, and used a long extension to crank down on the nut. I went as much as I could which is 1/12th of turn, the preload increased, but not enough. I decide to bring the diff to my workplace that night itself(Saturday 29th) after dinner and swap out one thinner shim. After dinner I loaded all my tools and the diff to my workplace. I proceed to tear apart the diff. The oil was loaded with gunk, it was black mixed with yellow, seems to have lot of metal in the oil, not sure coming from where.
Removed the pinion, swapped one Weir 0.2mm shim to a 0.17mm shim. Re assembled the pinion, cranked down on the nut at 150ft lb, then added another 1/16th of a turn. The preload was now much higher, but i felt still not as high as the 3rd rebuild, so I cranked down a tad more till I felt I couldnt. This time I felt the pinion was stuck at first, then with some ooomph, it turned very smoothly and not notchy. I could feel the rolling resistance. It felt just like the 3rd rebuild. I check breakaway, it was more that 40inlb. At this point I dont care about the breakaway anymore. The rolling was about 7 inlb , and the best part, no fluctuation on the In lb torque wrench needle. As long I kept it moving it gave consistent reading. Staked the nut put everything back as it was. Brought back the diff.
On Sunday 30th today, I resealed the diff, filled in fresh oil coz the previous 20km fill was filled with metal. Checked total preload it was 10 in lb total, or right at 1Nm. Loaded the diff into the subframe. Took a test drive.
As I was inching out in 1st gear at very low speeds, I could hear some weird noises, but after about a 100meters, the noises went away.
I then proceed to drive to a dog park about 5km away. Top speed was 55kmh for a short burst, most of the speeds were 35 to 40kmh. Accel and decel, no abnormal noises. Parked the car for 1 hr.
The drive home I took it easy again, and one one stretch of road I went to 60kmh and topped 66kmh. There was a very faint sound that I could hear with the radio off. With the radio on I cant hear it. Remember I said on the 5th rebuild the whistle/whine was 1/5th of the 4th rebuild? Well for this test drive it was 1/5th of that 1/5th, so that is a tremendous improvement !
As I neared my home, I found another stretch of road and brought the car to 64kmh, again same results, There is a sound but I really need to pay attention to it to notice it.
I parked my car and felt relieved and pretty happy.
Lets see if it stays the same when I drive the car next saturday. So it does seem the noise was low pinion preload.
I think what was happening is with low preload the pinion must have moved around causing the rollers to slide partially on the races, causing the whistle, and also the pinion shifted position slightly changing the gear contact pattern.
Now with the high preload, it stiffened up the whole pinion -bearing and spacer assembly to the housing, causing all forces trying to push the pinion away , is unable to do so as the rollers, races and the housing are now working as one unit keeping the pinion where its supposed to be.
It certainly looks promising at this point.