Anyone seen a warped richmond ring gear?

I've had mine apart about 10 times.

Pinion depth is 2.313 should be 2.32 so thats "close enough"

Backlash is the problem. On the "tight spot" backlash is .005.
On the opposite side of the ring gear, its about .012".

So when you turn the ring gear by hand you can feel the lose and tight spot, which is transmitted as a vibe at speed.

If I shim the "tight spot" to .008", the "loose spot" goes to like .025"..

I checked the carrier, it appears to be within .001" so I think thats "true enough", unless you dissagree.

Any ideas?

I'm seriously thinking of just using a set of GM gears I have lying around to finish the season, but I dunno if stock GM S10 3.73s are gonna survive low 11 second passes.

-- Joe

 

i don't think .007 is close enough, actually .007 is way the hell out of spec, i always set it to the spec, not something close. my guess is the housing is warped, but not sure how you'd check it. i sand down the mating surface of ring gears. if you suspect warpage i'd get out a feeler gage and straight edge

 

Well this is one of those things. Richmond says set it to 2.32" on the pinion head, but then they say "re-shim if contact pattern is not ideal". Well, which is it folks?

Even the GM service manual says the PD is a "starting point".
In my case, the contact pattern looks awesome, but it has a way tight, and way loose spot.

I bet your right. I have another 10 bolt actually from the '91 I should just rebuild. This housing is out of an '82,
and I think it was pulled up a few flatbeds by the rear. When I got hte parts car, both LCA's were bent.. heh

I'm trying to visualize what your saying. ?

-- Joe

 

contact pattern is the last and least item i'd worry about, also you'd want to move carrier shims around to correct it not the pinion shim