As the title says, with no shims on the gear pattern on the drive side of the ring is a nice flat spot, but it is all the way over on the heel side (the outer edge). Unfortunately with my limited tools, I can get the rear bearing on the pinion, but I have to take it in to a shop to get it off.

Anyone got any suggestions on how much shim thickness I should use in order to minimize my shop back & forth time? I know some of you gearheads out there probably know approx. how much I should add to get in in the middle where it's supposed to be. It would certainly be better than what I've got right now, that thing whined like a SOB during my test drive I'm glad I'm doing this though, now I can definitely suggest never trying to do a gear swap without a lift and a press!

 

Pinion depth should be marked on the gears. If you measure pinion depth, the measurement fron the axle centerline to the face of the pinion, then you should only need to visit the press one extra time. The carrier shims will get your pattern/backlash sorted out.

 

Allright thanks I forgot about that, although it should take quite a bit of math to get to that since I'm limited to a dial caliper and indicator only for tools on that... I'll probably throw a couple shims in there just to see if I can get that sucker in the middle without having to deal with getting the bearing off again, of course if anyone has any suggestions on how much shim to put in there to get it where it needs to be I'm listening... Although I do realize it's not the same as throwing on a cold air intake, it's just with that and those 11" rims bottoming out on the bumpstops I've got my hands full right now.