i reassembled the diff, put it back in the housing.

put a tape measure in the driver side axle tube, down the splines into the button and then compared it to the axle. the axle is within 1/16th of an inch
i left the axle in and measured the passenger side, down the axle tube, through the splines and touched the pin. the axle is almost 1/2" shorter than the measurement. I guess ill be upgrading to 1 piece gears.