Thanks for the correction, Jerry. I had always thought the opposite.
However, you have prompted me to think about it and your point makes perfect sense. Assuming the same gears, the only possible difference a new carrier can impart is the horizontal location of the ring gear, and therefore the spread between the pinion gear and the ring gear. A new carrier cannot change the pinion depth.
So it makes sense that all you have to check and possibly adjust is the backlash. Thanks for enhancing my understanding.
If you install the carrier and the backlash measures in spec, you are golden. If not, you are in for half a gear setup.
For the benefit of those who may not know, as described above if the backlash measures out of spec it must be adjusted. If the backlash is too large, you move the ring gear closer to the pinion gear. If backlast is too small, you move the ring gear away from the oinion gear.
To do so, you pull the carrier and adjust the carrier shims equally on each side to move the carrier and ring gear either closer to, or farther away, from the pinion gear. Measure the backlash again, and adjust as necessary.
