I have replaced the bushing and seal on the torque tube. When reassembling the propeller shaft and pinion assembly, I installed the three tapered screws. When the screws are tightened tightly it creates a problem with the turning of the pinion gear. The problem is that the tapered screws are not screwed in as deep as they were originally. When I say tightly, I mean they are barely being snugged up, very little pressure at all. Is there a specific way to do the tighten these tapered screws so that they seat the bearing but not interfere with the turning of the pinion?

The screws should not cause any change to tightness of the shaft.They apply pressure against the spacer and bearing to lock them in place.Be sure the spacer is inserted with the tapered side facing rearward (towards the pinion) and the flat against the bearing.The screws should be installed with 26-30 foot pounds and the pinion should still turn freely.If the spacer is reversed it could cause interference with the bearing.

Spacer is in the correct position because it was never taken apart. The whole shaft was removed to replace the bushing. The same bearings shims and whole assembly has not change. Is there a way to make sure the bearing is properly seated? What confuses me is that the tapered screws press against the spacer and should not have an effect on the bearing yet it does.

I suspect that you have not gotten the retaining ring properly located prior to installing the screws. The tapered end of the screw should mate with the tapered side of the ring and push it forward holding the bearing tightly in place. If you remove a screw and see a full metal ring in the hole it is not far enough forward. I have found that turning the shaft while the front end of the torque tube is as low as possible will facilitate the ring moving into place. Otherwise gravity will try to keep the ring next to the rear pinion bearing and not the front one.

When I remove a screw the retaining ring is just showing. It shows about 1/8th of and inch. I can see the slight dents in the retainer ring where the screws originally came into contact.

Is the unit in the car or out? Sounds like you may have to remove the pinion assembly, measure the depth where the bearing seats and be sure there are no burrs or anything that might be causing the bearing not to bottom out.Perhaps then if you re-install it and tap the pinion using a brass punch or wood block you should be able to fully seat the bearing.The screws then would only have to lock the assembly in place. Check how the shaft turns both before and after the screws are tighened.The screws are there only to lock the unit in place and should have no effect on how hard it turns.If they do then something is out of place.

The unit is out of the car. I will remove the propeller shaft and check it out carefully for anything that might impead the bearing seating itself properly. I agree with you that something is out of place but what? Is there anything that I can use to help the bearing slide into place more easily?

Ok problem solved. When seating the bearing I was using a rubber mallet so as to not damage anything. The bearing needed to be seated an extra 1/16th of and inch. I used a fiber dead blow hammer and hit it once and it seated the bearing to the bottom. Torqued down the screws as suggested in one of the responses and everything works the way it should. Thanks for the input.

Glad to hear the good news! Sometimes a bigger hammer IS the answer.