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Thick Ring Gear Case Study
The size of the pinion gear head is the linchpin. As the numeric size of the gear goes up the pinion size decreases, until the point when it can no longer properly engage the ring gear. The 12T 3.73 set features an 11-tooth pinion and the 4.11 sports a nine-tooth pinion which is too small in diameter for proper engagement so the 4.11 kit has a thicker ring gear to make up the difference and provide proper engagement.
In some instances, a thinner ring gear may be needed to stay within deck height specs. The break point is typically determined by the placement of the carrier case and the pinion centerline, and those are really arbitrary and up to the whim of a design engineer. We do NOT recommend ring gear spacers in any situation. Remember that using a thick or thin gear set has no side effects and will be just as strong and hold up just as well as a gear set that is the factory thickness. The chart below illustrate the break points and deck height parameters of many of the most popular carrier/differentials.
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