I'm in the middle of changing the front gears in my 1987 toyota 4x4 pickup, 4 cylinder 5 speed. The problem im having is that the pinion depth that is supposed to be engraved on the tip of the gear is on some sort of format i cant make any sence out of.

It says:

07/02/617

Its possible there is a decimal in front of the 617, making is .617

The mounting depth (from the center of ring gear, to bearing surface) is 3.875"

The checking distance is approximatly 2.335"

Neither of which seem to correlate to the numbers on the pinion.
(see image), Merry christmass !

-Alan

 

Here is a closeup of the pinion numbers

 

I've figured this out, and thought i would post my solution in case anyone in the future is looking for the same answer... BTW this is for a set from "Genuine Gear" for a 87 Toy 4x4 pickup.

The numbers on the front pinion were simply the manufacturing date, the last number was the machine the pinion was made on. Or something of that sort. I spent alot of time on the phone until finally i was told that the pinion depth must be set by "trial and error". I personally thought that was BS since i was able to measure the rear pinion depth and assemble it the first time correctly.

With trial and error as my only option i began honing out the stock bearing for a slip fit onto the new pinion, i had to remove about 0.001" I then found out that the factory bearing and the new bearing i had bought had different roller angles so that was a big (dumb) waste of time. (you could keep the factory race in until after setting the pinion depth and then change it, but i had already pressed in the new one and did not want to risk damage removing it) Anyways, i had no other option than to press on the new bearing and hope it fits, (before buying bearing plates to remove it if i was wrong) ...it was a perfect fit. So im not saying that you should always assemble these without shims, but thats what worked for me. Im still a little irritated that the (front) gears came without documentation on the exact pinion mounting depth, so if you purchase gears. Make certain that information is available, it will save you alot of work.

-Alan