How to place shims to move pinion away from ring gear

[relay1]

I can't figure out how to do this and I'm not finding the answer searching through the forums either. I have the vanquish rear axial and the pinion is too close to the diff housing and ring gear. It's rubbing against the housing and is generally notchy. How do I shim it to move the pinion gear away from the diff housing/ring gear?

[Dextroyer]

Is it actually cutting into the differential housing? Would shimming the housing opposite the ring gear not help enough? Do you have shims on the pinion already?

[relay1]

Sorry meant to say that the pinion is rubbing against the diff case, not the diff housing.

The only thing I've tried shimming so far is the pinion itself and whether I put the shims on the opposite side of the pinion against the c clip or against the pinion gear, or anywhere in between it doesn't seem to matter. In all cases it makes it more notchy. Are you saying I should put shim between the axle screws that hold the pinion/bearing in place and the pinion/bearing?

[Dextroyer]

Sounds like the pinion doesn't need shimming. The Vanquish axle has really high tolerances and probably would allow you to forgo the shims. Shims were always "as needed" if there is not any slop without them it sounds like the pinion would be fine. The teeth are huge and not spiral cut so you will feel some degree of notchiness. The difference between notchy and binding is hard to explain. Gear mesh is an art lol.

[relay1]

Hmm, ok. Well there is a wee bit of play in the pinion in that if it is slightly pushed in there is the rubbing/clicking noise. It is quite noticeable when it is running on the ground. If i pick it off the ground and run it with tires not touching anything the noise goes away. Problem is, if I shim the pinion the noise is there constantly whether on the ground or not. I've shimmed the diff to the side to push the ring away from the pinion but that did not help. Again because I think it's being too deep in the axle. I want to try and move the pinion depth out away from the diff case/ring gear. And you're right, this is like an art, a very frustrating one lol

[Fordfreak95]

First.......... If you do not have an aluminum pinion spacer to replace the plastic axial one....stop. Do that first. If you do great...do a dry fit with two new pinion bearings (fast eddies work real well here) and see what you have for front to back movement for the pinion by itself in the housing. You should have a little play but not a lot. If the pinion feels loose here add one axial shim on the pinion first, then the 1st bearing, the spacer, the 2nd bearing and then the C clip. Test again. After that's set put the diff housing in and screw the caps on. If it's too tight and grinding you need to put a shim on the diff housing behind the diff bearing..which means you have to disassemble the diff to do this unfortunately. Put the shim on the non-ring gear side because you are looking to move the ring gear *away* from the pinion gear.
Maybe you can't add shims here because the Vanquish housing may be tight...if thats the case then IDK. My plastic housing set up near perfectly so I am not touching the back of this thing unless it breaks.
A little bit tight gear mesh will be OK...just make sure you have some good marine bearing grease all over the gears. Too loose and on this fat pig of an RC and you'll chip the crap out of the gears.

[relay1]

Ok, I do have an aluminum pinion spacer that replaced the plastic one. It actually came with the vanquish rear axle. I also have the dhawk spacer as well, maybe I'll experiment between the two and see if there's a difference. I'll try your shim recommendations on the pinion. I've already added 2 shims between the bearing and diff housing on the side opposite the ring gear (to push it away from the pinion gear). I'll see what I can do further and maybe post a video if I still can't get it set right so you guys can let me know if it sounds like binding problems or just tight mesh and is ok. Thanks for everyone's help so far.

[Fordfreak95]

The gear mesh will never feel smooth. It's the straight cut like Dextroyer said.

[relay1]

Ok, so 1 shim next to C clip and 3 shims on left side of diff case pushing ring away from pinion seems to have done it. Thanks for your help everyone!