setting pinion angel

[bzahler]

I am in the process of putting a Dana 44 in my CJ7 .I plan on running a CV drive shaft and I know to point the pinion at the TC but do any of you think I should get the drive shaft first? Or do you think I can use my old on for mock up? any thoughts?
thanks

 

[Torxhead]

I used the oem driveshaft, and added a heavier tube. The shaft was shortened to accept the cv joint, and the pinion angle was rotated to match the driveshaft angle.

 

[gert]

you can indeed use either for mock up I suppose its up to your level of patience on wether you can wait on the new shaft to show up before you burn in the spring perches

 

[BusaDave9]

The pinion should not point to the Transfer Case . The u-joint on the pinion should not have much angle to it. The difference is the CV joint is longer than a U joint so the TCase end of the drive shaft is further out from the TCase than a conventional driveshaft.

To set the pinion angle you need to take this into account or better yet, wait till you have the drive shaft.
Also keep in mind that you should have weight on the rear suspension when measuring the angle. Most the time you are setting up the rear axle it's suspended. Just make sure you take into account these things when setting the pinion angle.

As one last note: most people say there should be no angle at the pinion u-joint. That the pinion should point directly toward the driveshaft. But the experts such as Randy Lyman (of Randy's Ring and pinion and author of the book Differentials: Identification, repair and restoration) says the pinion u-joint will have poor wear if it has zero angle. He recommends a 1° or 2° angle.

 

[Old Dog]

check here for the proper pinion angle Tom Wood's Custom Drive Shafts - Tom Woods Custom Drive Shafts Custom Driveshafts Specialist

 

[bzahler]

Thanks for the help I think I got it !