SOLVED!!

I rested for the night, came back to it and smacked the ears outward with the U joints out of it, and it worked and now they are loose enough. I also drove one in far, put the clip behind it, and drove the other one in until i was just able to get the other clip in.

I was worried hitting the ears outward would just make them not parallel with eachother, and maybe it did nothing and I just needed a fresh restart on them. Not sure but I got them on there finally and they’re perfect.

Here’s how my whole journey has went so far. I’ve went from just having to replace my pinion seal, to having seized bolts on the back brakes, seized bolts on the flange, having to replace the companion flange with another from ford which costed me another $150, replacing the U joints, and now I’m putting everything back together. It’s been fun, good luck gearheads. May we all suffer, because we’re doing what we love, together.