We confirmed this morning the following settings for installation of our 4.57 Richmond Gear rear gear sets:

Backlash: .008 (8 thousandths) Do not use the recommended Honda settings -- they are too tight and will generate excessive heat

Ring Gear Tooth Contact Pattern: 49 Series (the first contact pattern illustrated in the table provided in the Richmond Gear instructions sent with each gear set)

Please have your installer follow these settings.

My car has been extensively tested with these settings, with outstanding performance and excellent results.

We have emailed these settings, along with a pdf copy of the Richmond Gear install documentation that was shipped with each gear set, to every customer. If you do not receive the email, let us know. Some of the emails addresses provided were wrong, have changed, or have spam filters that block our messages, so the info may not have gotten to you.

 

That's what I'm talking about! R+D is a good thing.

 

i guess this is a little off topic of the 4.57's, but are the 4.77's using the recommended honda specs? it hasn't occurred to me to mention something like this to my installer when they do the work (seeing that this is somethinig far out of my expertise). i hope i'm not hijacking the thread.

 

Yes, use the stock specs for the 4.77s.

 

Thx for the post.

 

Use the Honda settings for the street but if you are planning on driving the car hard for periods of time have your installer lean towards the high side of the settings. Doing this will eliminate some heat build up.

 

So everyone knows, the Richmond specs are incorrect for the bearing cap bolt torque specs. They specify something like 60-65 ft/lbs, but the Honda manual specifies 33 ft/lbs. Several bolts have already been stretched today, so pay close attention to this one...

 

The carrier cap bolts that are use by Honda are not listed on the Richmond Gear Installation Instructions Sheet for torque specs. Carrier caps are 33 ft/lbs while the ring gear bolts are 55 ft/lbs.

 

That might explain the confusion during installation...I'll speak with the guys again and see what they've done so far. Two sets are going in at once and there's been a bit of confusion at the shop...

 

According to what I'm being read from the directions over the phone, "Carrier Cap Bolt, 7/16" head, 60-56 ft./lbs." This is not the ring gear, this is specifically the bearing cap bolt torque specs, and that's definitely wrong. After torqueing up to 50 ft./lbs., the bolts were beginning to stretch.

Unforunately, it looks like we have two Ss that will be in the shop over the weekend waiting for new bolts to come in. I'm hoping people read this before doing the install so they don't get caught with their pants down.

I'll let you know if I find out anything else...