[Dragsinger]

Rory,

what you say is correct. I have in fact raced without a crush sleeve setup just as you describe.

However, I find comfort in installing the solid sleeve so the pinion nut can be "tight" Defining "solid" as a solid spacer with shims to arrive at the per-load you want.

You will find many opinions, I build up with VERY light pre-load. Without pinion seal I can "spin" the assembled pinion.

With my setup the pinion seal has about the same drag as my pre-load.