I bought Richmond 3.73 ring and pinion and there is no BL .xxxx marked on the ring gear, only a long serial number stamped into it and a matching number written on the pinion for the set. The pinion had the depth written on it as well as the set number.

The directions in the box are obviously generic stating each ring and pinion is developed to run at .007 to .009 backlash for streat gear sets (explaining why it is not on the ring gear).

I measured every 3rd - 4th tooth. I get .009 for one tooth and .006 for two teeth, every other tooth was .007 - .008.

The smallest shim in the pack is .01, should I move it? and if so which direction?

 

If the pattern looks good I would leave it like it is.

 

Please critique.

 

man im on a lil netbook with a 5.5 inch screen drive side apears to be good but the coast side looks a lil shallow. but i could be caus eof this crappy netbook im using right now.

when i get home and on a real computer ill take a look again for you

 

I think you got them mixed up. The drive side looks shallow and the coast side looks pretty good.

I would add about .002 to .003 to the pinion shim and try again. Backlash is probably good where you have it, but will need to be adjusted again after the pinion shim change.

 

My next combination is .004 increase from .027 to .031? Too much?

 

May be too much, but worth a try.

 

Just so everyone else knows, coast is on left and drive is on the right.

 

lol opps its been a really long day and i havent slept in the last 48 hours thanks for catching that , my fingers were working faster then my brain

 

Moved the pinion from .027 to .031. I think it improved. What do you all think?

 

Yes, better. Pics are a little fuzzy, but as far as I can tell it's good.

 

These pictures are more clear. Thanks for the help!

 

Looks good.
If you get a set of richmond gears quiet, you'll be the 1st.. They have a lil diff cut on the gear for strength but it creates noise.

 

qft all the richmond gears we installed at the shop whined except for a few sets , my 4:10's whine pretty good but the pattern and backlash is perfect on them

 

Looks good to me. I'd run it like that if the backlash is in spec.

 

Wouldn't the pattern reflect the backlash not being in spec?

I'm getting .009 - .010 Backlash all the way around. Much less variance than before but on the high end of the richmond directions stating .007 - .009

 

It depends on what your setting them up for. looser lets more lube in them for more cooling for road courses and tighter is for less lube and short sprints/ 1/4 mile.

 

The pattern shows pinion depth much more than backlash. The backlash can be off and not really show up on the pattern. If you are getting .009 to .010 then you might want to tighten it up just a little. If you can't tighten it up .001 or .002 then leave it where it is. Too loose is better than too tight.

 

Sorry to keep asking different questions in the same post.

I don't have a real accurate inch pound torque wrench it seems, between the radial and clicker I have, I'm more than 30 and less than 35 inch pounds, this is pinion only but with the seal.

With .002 less shim on the solid spacer I barely had any rotational torque.

Is this sufficient?

 

That's too much preload on the pinion bearings. You need to be much closer to 20 inch pounds. Take the .002 back out of it and increase the torque on the pinion nut and see if you can get it close to 20. You can go up to 200 foot pounds or more, even though the instructions say to use 125 foot pounds. If not then measure the thickness of the solid spacer and use some sand paper on a solid flat surface to take about .001 off of it. Measure around the spacer in several places to be sure that you are taking off an even amount all the way around. Then put the .002 back in and see where this gets you. If you get it to 18 that should be enough for the small bearings in the 7.5.

Be sure that the seal has grease on it.