I've done a couple D44 setups lately that produced perfect patterns with no pinion depth shims - and no oil baffle either. One with new gears, one with used, both Spicer brand gears. Adding .010 of depth shim makes the pattern go all funky. One of these axles has seen a few hundred miles now and broke in perfectly, no noise, wear pattern looks great, yada yada.

So isn't that kinda weird? Anybody else run into this?

If the prior gearsets set up close to the same shim thikness, then it is entirely possible. You should assume that no two housings and gearsets are the same and the wear pattern is your proof. If it sets up run it.

I asked my dad about this and he said that all spicer pinions are marked on the gear end with ( +03 or -05), anyway plus or minus something and that that is to help with seting pinion depth. You should check the pinion that came out for marking and assuming that it was set right to begin with add or subtract shims based on the markings on the new set. How much lash did you end up with?

I asked my dad about this and he said that all spicer pinions are marked on the gear end with ( +03 or -05), anyway plus or minus something and that that is to help with seting pinion depth. You should check the pinion that came out for marking and assuming that it was set right to begin with add or subtract shims based on the markings on the new set. How much lash did you end up with?.006 ~ .010 :D

I started with empty housings in both cases, so I had no point of reference.

I had a 10.25 that was like that. OEM gears and setup, no pinion shims when I tore it down.