Richmond Pro gear alert heads-up...

[CrateCamaro]

Some stuff leaks through quality once in awhile there's really nothing you can do about it. Unfortunately a lot of companies are cutting jobs and hiring lower cost employees and are training them to just be "button pushers" and count on quality to find every flaw. They don't want to pay the old school guys and girls that actually take pride in what they are building. Really if you are dense enough to install a .250 shim in a pinion your best bet is to go inside the house and don't bother attempting to set gears up. I set a lot of gears up as I'm sure you all do too and I only use the depth as a guide....pattern and lash is the only way. Setup bearings are only good IMO if you are always using the same brand of bearing...bearings have +/- tolerance as well, specially with different brands. SKF is really close and the closest that I can tell without seeing a blueprint on the bearing. I bought a high quality bearing puller and just use the bearing that I'm going to install for setups. PS some of the highest quality gears are cut in Italy...I wouldn't be worried about the quality there. There all hopped up on espresso and have naps in the afternoon so they are always fresh minded! LOL.