Pinion Angle

[Rich 5150 69]

Three to five degrees down depending on what angle your transmission is at bolted in....

[skysoldier173rd]

always set all my hot rods between 3 and 5 degrees and never a problem. Can't remember where i got the info, but it was years ago. Craftsman makes a nice magnetic angle finder and it's fairly cheap. In fact just changed my old truck to a 350 auto this last week, had to build a crossmember, set it a 3 degrees.

www.picturetrail.com/skysoldier173rd

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Three to five degrees down depending on what angle your transmission is at bolted in....

3 to 5 degrees down??? Wouldn't the pinion be 3 to 5 degrees up?

['63GENIII]

Yes 3 to 5 degrees down when compared to the drive shaft which should also be 3 to 5 degrees down from the transmission. I had often heard that the angle of the transmission yoke should be the same as the angle as the pinion yoke.

[Captainfab]

You know what Zack, I need to appologize. I gave you some bogus info in your other thread regarding the pinion angle. I said that the pinion was 14 degrees up from the trailing arm mounts. Well, that was actually 4 degrees up from the trailing arm mounts. Only explanation is apparently I had my head somewhere it didn't belong at the time......

[skysoldier173rd]

I heard the same as GENIII above in his post, that the pinion angles offset with equal angle, only one up and one down about the same amount (3 to 5 degrees). I have seen shims used also to obtain the proper angle on trans mounts if the crossmember comes out too low to bring it up.

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

You know what Zack, I need to appologize. I gave you some bogus info in your other thread regarding the pinion angle. I said that the pinion was 14 degrees up from the trailing arm mounts. Well, that was actually 4 degrees up from the trailing arm mounts. Only explanation is apparently I had my head somewhere it didn't belong at the time......

LOL, np Fab. I haven't set the angle yet so it's all good. I guess the best way to do this is, level the perches and set the angle from that point???

['63GENIII]

I guess the best way to do this is, level the perches and set the angle from that point???[/QUOTE]

Yes. I personally have shims and spacers all over my driveline and although it works great (no vibrations), to me it's kinda jalopy style and I wish that my perches had been welded in the right place from the start.

[Captainfab]

That's what I did with the original rear end I checked. I leveled the trailing arm mounts and measured the angle on the pinion yoke which was 86.4* Allowing for a little error, I would figure 86*......or up 4* from level.

Originally Posted by CVA59

LOL, np Fab. I haven't set the angle yet so it's all good. I guess the best way to do this is, level the perches and set the angle from that point???

['63GENIII]

Having the pinion and trans parallel made a pretty bad vibration that I had go away. Definitely a better way of putting it!

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That's what I did with the original rear end I checked. I leveled the trailing arm mounts and measured the angle on the pinion yoke which was 86.4* Allowing for a little error, I would figure 86*......or up 4* from level.

Thanks again Fab. I will level the trailing arm mounting area and set it as you say at 4* up from level. That should put me within spec as you have described.

Next question: The rear i am using is out of a 86 donor truck. I do not have the drive shaft from that truck. I only have my original driveshaft. My OE shaft u-joint cups are a good bit smaller than that of the 86. What is the solution to this?

Thanks,