Ok took longer than I thought it would to finally get the oil changed. I tore the filter apart and this is what I found.
You can see the little pieces of aluminum. That is everything I found on the inside case of the oil filter. Doesn't seem like an abnormal amount of material to me.
Here is a pic of the actual element.
I couldn't see any filings on the element.
When I replaced my carrier bearing I had the whole driveshaft out and noticed that the caps for the ujoint off the back of the tranny had little grooves where the needle bearings sit. I didn't replace it because I was anxious to drive it for the first time after the rebuild.
Could that be the source or contributor to my noise? It wasn't loose at all thats why i didn't wait to order a new U joint.