Justin lightly filed the ring gear mounting surface of the Yukon spool to make sure there were no burrs to effect run-out and applied red Loctite to the ring gear bolts. The new carrier bearings went on with some careful hammer help.

The only clues as to the gear brand were these....?

The 1st step was to set the pinion up. I re-used the old .086" factory pinion shim but added another .012" to it for a total of .098". Pressing the new KOYO bearing on was a piece of cake with the 10 ton press. As the pic shows, I like to use lotsa red gear oil to give smooth readings when checking the pinion pre-load with a torque wrench. We used a factory solid spacer with .054" shim thickness which put us in the ballpark of 20 in/lb.

Here, Justin is helping out as we get ready to paint the first pattern. Of course, I have already set the backlash to about .007" and cranked really tight on the carrier bearings.

Drive side. .098".....good....but I will take off .002" on the next go around.

coast side .098"

Took it all apart and re-shimmed to .096". This pattern is good. I also fine tuned the pinion pre-load by adding .002" to the collar pack...this gave me a new value of 10~15 in/lb.

The flange was a bit loose on the spline fit. I recommended to Josh to replace it at his leisure. When you have a solid collar this can be done. I tightened up the new pinion nut with the electric impact and lightly dimpled it. Josh will use Loctite on it after the new flange is on.

Just a note that the Yukon spool really is a quality piece....made in the USA and made recently....March of 2004.