Another preload/backlash question

[buzzatpp]

I have been going through my 915/68 transmission using Mr Zimmerman's tutorial and have come up with several questions. First of all the tranny is in surprisingly good condition considering its age and mileage at around 80k. All the gears, dog teeth and synchros looked pretty good so no apparent abuse except for a crashed reverse idler and shifting sleeve, which is why I went in. I found the pinion race in the transfer case loose (spinning but not sloppy) so off the case went for the fix. We put in new rear pinion bearing, adjacent 4 point bearing, 5 synchros and a 1 piece bearing retainer plate. Now I have decided to replace the carrier bearings since after more careful examination they seemed a little pitted. While waiting on the parts I put the shafts in the cases to see what preload and backlash looked like before installing the new carrier bearings, just for reference and to practice Pete's procedure. (I torqued the 1 piece bearing retainer plate, middle case nuts and ring gear cover. I did not final torque the input shaft castle nut at the front). I found preload to be around 60ip reduced to 50ip after the tension broke loose. I cant tell what brand bearings are in there now. If I'm measuring the backlash correctly, I'm getting .010" (etching on end of pinion shows 0.16mm which converts to .006", so I'm .004" too much). Question: Do you think that backlash number will tighten up with the new carrier bearings?

The second thing I found was excessive runout of the input shaft at the clutch end. I thought it would be a good time to check it since the 1 piece retainer plate prevented any good way to check runout before I put it back in the case. Im getting .008" runout and I think I'm allowed only .004". Also, when I move the same end of the input shaft side to side, it feels a little sloppy. (this is the remaining 12" long unsupported end of the shaft at the clutch end). Im thinking the excessive runout may have caused wear to the rear bearing causing the play? I did not check the runout before I assembled and torqued the gear stack. Could the presumed play in the shaft bearing be normal? Can that much shaft runout be straightened? I know this is long but thanks for any contemplation.
Buzz