Flexor delivered to me a new Genuine 5.71
8" gearset with new carrier bearings. Also, 
a solid collar and a Detroit Soft Locker.
The new carrier bearings can be pressed on 
but, if you're lazy, you can coax them on
with kinetic energy. They went on tight.
 

 
This is the way Flexor delivered it to 
me. An unusual pinion seal. No need to
take the seal out as I will re-use
this outer pinion bearing. 



I measured the shims that came off 
the pinion and the solid collar.....
86 on the pinion and 52 on the collar.
I like using the mics as they offer
accurate repeatable measurements.
 

 
I assembled and tightened the pinion nut
down cautiously and had about 5 in/lb of 
pinion pre-load as measured by the
pendulum style torque bar.


 
Not my favorite ring and pinion brand to
use by a long shot but these are some of
the typical unique markings to identify a Genuine.
 








Looks like they ran a pattern at the
factory.....some rust on it from the
salty trip overseas.
 


The ring gear was a snug fit onto the Detroit
case and was easily pulled in place by the 
bolts (with a tap from the light-weight hammer).
 


I cleaned the threads with starting fluid 
and applied some blue Loctite on the 10 
ring gear bolts. 70 ft/lbs.
 


I set the backlash in the 5~8 thou area 
while making sure the carrier pre-load
was very tight.

 

The bright yellow paint that Randy supplys 
makes it easy to see the pattern.
 


I use this easy to turn bar with a handle 
loosely attached to the flange.
 


Drive side....86 thou.... Too deep..... 



coast side .086" 



Drive side .076" still deep 



coast .076"
 


Drive side .066".......close



coast 066 



Drive side now with .056"..... backlash 8 thou 



coast. 056 



After consulting with Flexor, it was decided
to try going deeper. So I started way deep.....
at .117"(adjusted value) driveside above. 



coast .117 



drive .096
 


coast .096 



drive .086 



coast .086 



I added .007" to the last set of painted 
pics for a final adjusted pinion value of
.093 with .007 BL. I did not want the nut
to loosen up under even the most extreme 
situation...so I used the equalizer. 



I cleaned the threads prior to using the
blue loctite. Denting the nut was not 
required because of this. 



Flex did not have a dust shield on his
flange....and I guess it's really not
needed especially in this Arizona type
of climate. The seal is a bit unique.....
I kinda like it. There's the part
number if you do too. 



One 3rd ready for pick-up. Pinion 
pre-load is right at about 5 in/lb.....
carrier bearing pre-load set extra
tight(was not measured but felt like
100 ft/lbs) to minimize ring gear
 deflection under high loads.