A method of assembling gears into a housing of an automotive differential, comprising: providing a first pinion gear washer and a second pinion gear washer; providing a first side gear washer and a second side gear washer; locating a pair of pinion gears (14, 16) and the first and second pinion gear washers (30, 32) on a pinion shaft at least partially within an interior of the housing, and locating a pair of side gears (18, 20) at least partially within said interior and meshed with the pinion gears (14, 16); situating said first pinion gear washer between said housing and one of said pinion gears (14, 16), and situating said second pinion gear washer between said housing and the other of said pinion gears (14, 16); situating said first side gear washer between said housing and one of said side gears (18, 20), and situating said second side gear washer between said housing and the other of said side gears (18, 20); characterized in doing at least one of: determining an actual side gear apex position and comparing the actual side gear apex position to a target side gear apex position, and if the actual position and target position differ by more than a first threshold, selecting a thickness of one or both of the first side gear washer and the second side gear washer to move the actual side gear apex position to a position within the threshold from the target position; and determining an actual pinion gear apex position and comparing the actual pinion gear apex position to a target pinion gear apex position, and if the actual position and target position differ by more than a second threshold, selecting a thickness of one or both of the first pinion gear washer and the second pinion gear washer to move the actual pinion gear apex position to a position within a threshold from the target position. providing a first pinion gear washer and a second pinion gear washer; providing a first side gear washer and a second side gear washer; locating a pair of pinion gears (14, 16) and the first and second pinion gear washers (30, 32) on a pinion shaft at least partially within an interior of the housing, and locating a pair of side gears (18, 20) at least partially within said interior and meshed with the pinion gears (14, 16); situating said first pinion gear washer between said housing and one of said pinion gears (14, 16), and situating said second pinion gear washer between said housing and the other of said pinion gears (14, 16); situating said first side gear washer between said housing and one of said side gears (18, 20), and situating said second side gear washer between said housing and the other of said side gears (18, 20); determining an actual side gear apex position and comparing the actual side gear apex position to a target side gear apex position, and if the actual position and target position differ by more than a first threshold, selecting a thickness of one or both of the first side gear washer and the second side gear washer to move the actual side gear apex position to a position within the threshold from the target position; and determining an actual pinion gear apex position and comparing the actual pinion gear apex position to a target pinion gear apex position, and if the actual position and target position differ by more than a second threshold, selecting a thickness of one or both of the first pinion gear washer and the second pinion gear washer to move the actual pinion gear apex position to a position within a threshold from the target position.