Sterling 10.5 backlash

[TD-5]

Changed out my 3.55 gearing for a new set of OEM 4.10 gears mounted on a Yukon grizzly locker.
Got a good pattern centered between root and top crown on both drive & coast sides, very slightly towards the heel.
My backlash is set at the minimum spec of .006".
Now I just realized these factory gears are face hobbed( 2 cut) machined & I used the backlash specs for 5 cut (face milled)
Backlash specs for 5 cut gears is .006" to .010", for 2 cut gears the spec is .008" to .012" so I am below spec for the 2 cut gears by a couple of thou.
If I increase my backlash to get say 8-10 thou I'm going to move my pattern farther towards the heel which I don't really want.
How critical is a tight backlash to OEM Sterling gears, will the locker make a difference to temperatures which will influence backlash?

 

[suprhlr]

I would try to move the backlash to about .008/.010 and see what the pattern looks like, it probably wont change much. I swapped out my D80 gears which were factory set at .004/.005 and they howled like a bitch, set the new gearset @ .008 BL and the gear noise was gone.

 

[TD-5]

Thanks for the feed back, Ya, I figured unless someone had first hand knowledge as to why the skinny backlash would be ok, I'll go back in & increase it to around .010". Easier to get it right now, than deal with a cluster*** later.