rojizostang

if you've adjusted your pinion angle, specifically to help eliminate drive shaft vibe....

what were your before and after angles, and what was the result?

i'm going to try this one last thing before i give up on one piece alum drive shafts

owero01

If you are getting a vibration, try unhooking the drive shafts and rotating it 180 degrees. That should help with the vibration.

rojizostang

i've installed that stupid thing in every position possible, even backwards, to no avail.

owero01

Ok. Your pinion angle should be no more than -2. You may still get some vibration at higher speeds.

rojizostang

i'm at +1 in the front and -2 at the back. that's why i'm asking for some one that has actually adjusted theirs and it made any difference.

i'm on my 3rd shaft, balanced by two different shops....well actually i haven't reinstalled it after balancing by the second shop. just purchased some adj lower lca's and was hoping for some numbers to reference when i start adjusting the angle.

honestly, i don't think it's going to make any difference.

owero01

I had an adjustable UCA installed to adjust the pinion angle.

MHGT

TRY THIS ......I have had the same problem ....been through 3 alum shafts and even a custom steel which is by far the best so far. I have adjusted my pinion 10 times at least...best at -1 down. You really need to verify the shaft runout which on at least one alum shaft was almost 100 thou !! in the front reweld. After putting in the new steel I noticed that there was some runout after install and took it back ( the guy swears it is perfect ) I reinstalled it by SLOWLY tightening the shaft to the flanges. I think that if you try to tighten them ( not yet torque ) on one side then the other you distort the flange...either the companion or pinion doesn't matter. After you get it seated I found that the runout changes which tells me the flanges distort. So then once you confirm the shaft is true then torque...has made alot of difference so far....still a bit of vibration but vastly improved.

moosestang

The proper way to set the pinion angle for a 1 piece shaft is to measure the transmission flange angle and set the pinion at the opposite angle. Even the Ford service manual states this as the proper way to set the pinion. If you were to draw a straight line through the transmission and one through the rear end/pinion, the lines should be parallel.

With all that said, i have adjusted my pinion angle several times to arrive at a perfect angle. Knowing my angle won't help you though. I couldn't even tell you the angle. I just made sure the difference between the pinion angle and driveshaft angle was more than .5 degrees, but not greater than 3 degrees.

Do you have the spyder shaft or is someone else shortening ranger shafts? I still have the denny's driveshaft I bought 2 years ago. Keep in mind that a 1 piece shaft will reveal vibrations that were all ready there, but covered up nicely by the stock shaft. I had an annoying vibration at 3200 rpms that was almost unnoticeable with the stock shaft, but very, very noticeable with the denny's shaft. It turned out to be my clutch or flywheel. After switching to an aftermarket clutch/flywheel, the vibration is gone.

rojizostang

i'm sure hoping it's not a clutch or flywheel problem, however i believe you are correct in saying that a one piece shaft will reveal an existing vibe, which has been my contention all along. i think the shaft is good, i checked the run out on this shaft the last time i had it on the car and it was negligible. i've indexed, reversed, rebalanced, foamed a variety of shafts. this shaft is built locally from the spydershaft pattern. and is the best one i've tried so far, and is almost acceptable.... but not quite.

i had this shaft rebalanced by a different shop that built it. i'm going to install it one more time, set the angles (currently +1 and -2), index it again, tighten the flange bolts as suggested (which i've also done) and then give up for good if it doesn't work better.

i'm even going to try a different set of wheels on the back to see if that makes any difference....if that doesn't work, i'm giving up.

Riptide

Those of you who have experienced these driveshaft induced or revealed vibrations - just how bad is it?

I want to get a 1 piece eventually. Charity Leonard told me it's highly unlikely that I will get any vibration out of a spydershaft but I keep hearing stuff like this on these boards and it worries me.