I was wondering if anyone could help me. Is setting pinion depth that "big a deal". I've seen guys just re-use pinion shims when swaping gears in to the same housing.

This is my first gear swap and I'm not sure if I can just reuse the shim thats on the pinion or will I need to use a depth setter. I was going to re-use the pinion shim and adjust the backlash. Any thoughts?

This is a (1995) GM 7.5 rear.

 

Use the shim depth that you took out to start with. When you are checking your pattern, you might need to change it. Your pattern ultimately determines the depth as I understand it.