question for guys with gear swapping exp!!!

any excessive noise or clanks vs. stock gears should be evaluated

I'm not sure about the play in the driveline, but if it's making some noise, especially since the gear swap, it wouldn't hurt to have it checked out by a gear shop. Are the U joints in good shape? That could make a noise if they're excessively worn. Good luck on it!

Sounds like the pinion preload is far too loose. Definatly have it checked SOON or that new gear set will go south.

without proper tools i doubt that the gears are set right. new gears shouldnt be any different than the stock ones as far as noise is concerned. dumped flows dont help any either. they can drown out the gear whine from the rear end as gear whine is a definite sign that the gears were set wrong. if you can open up the pumpkin and inspect the ring gear to see if there is a wear pattern and use a magnet to find if there are any metal shavings. if your gears came with a sheet showing the desired gear mesh the wear pattern will match. the sheet. the wear pattern will give you a starting place to determine what is wrong. it could be pinion depth, or preload from the ring gear not being far enough in or out. sorry to be the bearer of bad news but gears are not for the inexperienced to do. to get it done right you need a shop(or a friend) equipped with the right tools to fix this for you.

the press isnt really an issue. there is a trick to getting around that. you can sand the pinion shaft where the bearing slides on with emery paper or sandpaper until it slides on and off. nice trick for those who need to take apart the diff to re-shim and check everything who dont have a press.the crush sleeve is damn near impossible to crush with hand tools, there are new ones out now that are shims instead of a single sleave. i doubt your issue is the collar. yours sounds more like backlash. the clunking sound can be because the backlash is too loose. this doesnt sound good if it was your friends first time doing gears. since you dont have all the tools then set a side a day and get lots of gear marking compound. you need to re-set the gears and get the back lash tighter. when everything is apart grab one tire while the axles are still in the rearend and spin it both ways. you should be able to turn the rear and feel if there seems to be excessive play forward and backward. the carrier most likely needs to be shimmed tighter against the pinion.