While down in Tucson, Chris cornered me and dropped two
3rd members/2 master kits/2 solid collars/Detroit Soft/Detroit
EZ in the back of my 4Runner....and here they are. I like it 
when somebody gets the right stuff. :) 



Made in the USA. 7 teeth on the pinion and 37 on the ring.
 


I decided to do the rear first so here I'm loading the ring
gear onto the Detroit SoftLocker....I never found a need to
boil my ring gears to fit....they seem to load up just fine....
sometimes a rubber mallet helped out. I already filed the 
surfaces smooth to remove any burrs and high spots that could
add to run-out.
 


A master kit runs about $100....if you ever priced just the
4 bearings alone they run over the 100 mark easily. The crush
sleeve is good for scrap metal in my book but the pinion seal,
shims, marking paint, and ring gear bolts are all welcome. 



I applied blue LocTite to the new ring gear bolts and tightened
them up to 70 ft/lb. A press could have been used but I chose this method. 



Next, I need to install the new 529 pinion so I need to tear 3rd 
down all the way. I start by marking the bearing caps so I don't
mix them upon re-assembly.
 


The electric impact and the 30mm (1 3/16") impact socket made
quick work of the pinion nut. They all come off even if staked
down. The yoke tapped off with a small hammer but the 10 ton press 
was gently used to push the pinion out. 



I wanted to re-use the old pinion shim so I had to press the 
bearing off. I used a small worn-out grinding wheel to change 
the shape of the "dishes" on the bearing separator.....that way, 
the bearing cage does not get all torn up when trying to remove/re-use
a bearing. I have new bearings from Chris but these can be re-used 
on an "emergency" install sometime in the future.
 


The Toyota factory shim measured at 80 thou on my micrometers.
Sure is nice having a digital camera that can get 1" from the 
action :) (Sony Mavica 85 with floppy disc storage) 


 
Pressing in new main race..... 



Tapping in the new front pinion race using
 an old race and an aluminum block. 



I used the factory .080" shim plus another .020" for my first try.
 


Ready to shim up the solid collar.....usually this involves
about 4 tries....but I got lucky.....my 1st try with .054" 
worth of shim gave me good pre-load. 



Now to put the rest together so I can get my first paint pattern.
I had to maintain some backlash while cranking the carrier bearings
tight and also tighten the cap bolts to spec. 



Bingo. This is the drive side with .100" shim. This is good. The
backlash here is only .004"....... 



I opened up BL to .009" and it shifted just a little closer
to center. This pattern looks good.
 


Getting ready to run a paint on the coast side. I wedge a large
screwdriver in there to offer some resistance to get a good paint.
Carrier bearings have to be set tight to prevent any ring gear deflection. 



Nice pattern on coast.
 


I re-set the BL to .007"....I probably put about 40 ft/lbs
of torque on those carrier bearings....but that's what they
want to see. The bearing cap bolts were tightened to the usual
70 ft/lb. I know that a lot of installs are done with lightly
snugged bearings.....that leads to ring gear deflections then to 
BOOM...blame the ring and pinion.
 


Don't forget the splashguard. 



I prefer to use some UltraBlue RTV on the steel lip......
and red grease on the rubber seal. A hammer can be used to
tap the seal on but be cautious to not dent/cave-in the 
metal portion. 



Loctite on the fresh nut. 



I held the electric on the nut for about 10 seconds....
tight. I still elected to stake it even though I had the
blue stuff on it. 



Done. swish swish swish. Zorro. 

Front gear install click here