Pinion bearing ?

FWIW, when I rebuilt the 8.25 last year the inner pinion bearing was pressed on and becomes trash when you press it off because there was no way to grab the race with a bearing puller. The outer bearing would slide on and off with just a little help.

BTW, there is usually two numbers scratched into the end of the pinion gear.

The one that is a number like 2.*** is the distance of the center line of the carrier bearings to the top of the pinion gear. If you have the tool to make this measurement then it's the exact position that the pinion needs to be in to ensure proper pinion depth (no multiple trys with a pattern check).

If the pinion is marked +006 (or a minus number) that is the distance in thousands from an ideal dimension. If the pinion you are removing also has these marks this will be the simplest way to get the correct set up.

Lets say the old pinion is marked +005 an the new one is +003, the difference is 002. So all you have to do is remove 0.002" worth of shim thickness from what was there on the old pinion for the new and you are done. If the old was -005 and the new was +006 then you would have to add 0.011" to what was there.