Front and rear shaft set up with SOA and Chevy springs?

[Mustang Shooter]

Hi everyone,
I got the front and rear axles mocked up on the Wagg a week or so ago but have been busy and not had the time to sit down and type.

I have swapped the stock axles to Dana 60 low pinion front and Dana 70U rear, both came from the same Dodge W250 and am using stock 84 GW springs and shackles along with the 60" Suburban rear spring and shackles.

I have a home made shackle flip set up and did not cut the front spring pocket bottom off and up 3/4" as you do in Tads' kit.
I have not burned the mounts in place yet, just in case I need to change something out.

I have the drive train set at 2*
the front pinion is 3* up
the rear pinion is 5* up
The center of the rear output shaft is 8" from the under side of the frame.

I found during a general search on the web, that if there is no driveshaft to measure for angle, one can use a string or a tube to attempt a measurement. I have tried using a string.
For the rear, I horizontally leveled the pinion and used one of the u-joints that came with the rear axle assembly. I installed the u-joint and made a loose loop around a horizontal shaft. I then pulled the string tight and lined it up with the center of the output shaft on the transfer case and used my bubble angle indicator. The measurement I came up with for the rear is @24*.

I do not have any u-joints for the front pinion. I did still make a loop but tried to keep it centered on a spare strap that I installed temporarily and leveled the pinion horizontally. This time I pulled to the center of the front output flange on the transfer case. The front measurement came to @17*.

How close are these numbers to anything you may have gotten when you initially got your suspension lifted?
Thanks,
Dan

[AwesomeJ10]

any pics?

I think you might be better off getting more of it assembled and then measure, then adjust, then weld.

[Mustang Shooter]

Blake,
Just for a quick reply, here is the link to my build thread.
I have some measurement pics toward the end.
If you need a specific pic, please let me know and Ii will post it.
http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5938
Thanks,
Dan

[Tad]

Dan,
I'll check my angles later this morning.
They are going to be different for sure.
That last adjustment I made by dropping the entire drivetrain 2" and shoving it back 3" changed everything and I don't recall what I actually wound up with.

[Mustang Shooter]

Thanks Tad.
Wow 2" drop! I thought I was worried about being too low as it is.

[Tad]

Thanks Tad.
Wow 2" drop! I thought I was worried about being too low as it is.

It really helped with that tippy feeling, the lower COG is nice.

I have 0* tilt to the engine (Caddy425).
I run flanges instead of yokes on the t-case, both are at 0*
Front shaft has an 18* drop (D60 pinion is shimmed up 6* for a better shaft angle).
Rear shaft has a 19* drop.

I do need to shim my rear pinion up about 3-4* now that I run a double cardan back there, just to keep things proper.
It's a welded gov-lok gearball so it's going to make noise no matter what I do to it.
Really need to get rid of that.

[SJTD]

I would set the front based on the caster and take whatever pinion angle that gives you. You have to live with the caster all the time but u-joint angle only when in 4wd.

[csuengr]

I would think that setting the caster angle on the front is more important than the pinion angle. A good pinion angle isn't worth %^&%& if the truck won't stay in a lane while driving.

[Mustang Shooter]

Hey guys sorry I havent been on but I've been busy.
I'm sort of on hold for a little bit.
I may be completely wrong, but I dont seem to be worried as much with the front right now as I am with the rear.
The rear angle on the shaft is@ 24* with a 43 1/2" length.
Ill try to post again later.

[csuengr]

I didn't see, but if you are running a single cardian joint at both ends of the rear driveshaft, then you want the angles at the pinion a tcase output to be equal but opposite. Your pinion does need to come up though. For the front, again, caster angle is more important than pinion angle.