[davids2toys]

Thank you all for the great suggestions and laughs. i will check all the suggested places and post back to this thread. I think it is to dainty to have anything to do with the u joints. I am liking that side curtain ferrule guess!
Yes, Rick I marked everything before doing the pinion seal job.

OK, just check all the locations, and the winner is
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ............................ side curtain ferrule!
It is the same as the side curtain ferrules. Mine are all there, so the old owner must have dropped this one. I will save it as a spare. One of the snap rings had clear RTV all over it. My guess is that it fell off and he could not find it, so he replaced it and RTVed it at the same time. I like that idea and think I will do the same to the remaining 5 snap rings.
Thank you all for the help and humor...Dave