500/600, the shims needed opening to 1.560" to get them to sit flat. I'm beginning to think I need to look for some aftermarket gears....
I’m of the train of thought that the instant that the center is just large enough to sit flat, you are at the perfect size that keeps the shim perfectly centered. What am I missing? I spent my college years setting up hundreds and hundreds of gearsets, mostly factory and mostly GM, and have never seen this occur. Use whatever sleeve that you’ll be pressing the bearing on with to press down on your ‘setup’ bearing with the 1.44” shim installed. The shim ID will bend but the bearing should completely seat as the bearing radius is almost positively larger than the pinion radius. And it will be perfectly centered. Try it. Don’t just lay it on, press it on.