kalli

it's measured against hotizontal (of planet so to say). I did not know about how to measure it against the horizontal of the car. if I'd know what part of underside of car I could measure I could add/substract the angle to have it against horizontal of car.
pinion angle is measured against the same horizontal as trnsmission output. But I don't see any way to lift the transmission. there's a part in fron tof shifter that is only half or quarter inch away from tunnel. i couldn't place my index finger between that

The rear was always problematic as it was welded on 4 degrees down instead of up since day one. I cyut the perches and rotated the axle 8 up and welded new perches back on. I might have easily missed 2 degrees doing that as I wleded it on in-car. as in measure, take out, adjust, place back, rotate and weld

i ordered 2.5 degree shims and 4 degree shims. 2.5 will bring the angle to 4 up in car which might be right and 4 degrees will bring it up so it matches the angle of transmission housing exactly right. I hope either of them will improve things as I can't manipulate on transmission

Scott H.

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Gun Jam

Okay

I looked at the cross member and the section where it mount to the car frame. They dont have as much extra metal as I thought and it would be a bit of work to slot them especially on the car side.

I decided to not attempt to lower it 1/4 deg (at lest not right yet)

I'll take it back to the guys that measured it / OR take it back to the guy who made the driveline for me (buddy) The guy who made the driveline said he would like to take a look and see whats going on.

So Ill talk to one or both of those people before I attempt to modify the trans angle via the cross member.

I'll let you know what they say.

-Gun

kalli

cool. maybe it's best if you'd take them for a spin. hearing about it and feeling it are two totally different things. I'm currently waiting on my shims. Will probably be another week until the parts are here ...

kalli

i received my shims. 2.5edg and 4deg. I think I'll try the 4 degs in. It'll definetly happen on the weekend. I'll report back then as well on the car/planet angle (Scott)

Kalli

Gun Jam

okay

I took the car back to McCalister's automotive the place that shortened the DS and balanced it when I had just finished the swap.

He looked at it took some measurements and said Trans was -3 and Rearend was -2 (has the 2 deg shims in it and I told him it did have 2 deg shims and they did make a small improvement over the 1 deg shims)

He suggested that I add 6 deg shims for a theoretical angle of +2 on the rearend. He said he wanted the trans angle and rearend angle to be parallel (equal but opposite)

SO right now it should be sitting at trans -3 rearend 2 with total angle of 5 and 1 deg shy of parallel. Vs trans -3 rearend -2 total of 5 with 5 deg shy of parallel

I had the car to a solid 78 mph for a short time it felt okay for sure not worse. I never heard any vibration the shifter felt pretty smooth. I'll have to wait until i can find a freeway for a real report back but so far the 6 deg is looking good.

-Gun

Gun Jam

Well i gave the 6 deg shims a good workout today.

There was no noticeable improvement between the 6 deg and the 2 deg but its not worse its just not better.

Im not sure how close pinion and trans are to parallel (equal but opposite) but it should be with in a 1.25 deg...all that aside i figured there would be a noticeable difference between 2 deg shims and 6 but no.

-Gun

kalli

"He looked at it took some measurements and said Trans was -3 and Rearend was -2"

"He suggested that I add 6 deg shims for a theoretical angle of +2 on the rearend."

only if you replaced. (not added).
if you had your 2 degree wedge installed in such a way that the pinion goes up, then you'd had -4 originally. When you install only the 6 degree shim you'd be at +2. if you added the 6 to the 2 you'd be at +4.

It's mad your pinion is so low without the shims. from what I read most ford axles are set up in such a way that they point 4 degrees up when installed. which would be perfect for you as well as -3 +4 is +1, which would cater for hard launches and still run smooth for cruising.

So theoretically you should actually use 8 degrees (6+2), but that sounds scary ... ?! how much can you actually shim theoretically without everything falling apart under load ?

just to be sure. when he measured the -2 at pinion, that actually meant your pinion was pointing down?


I'd suggest to bring the car back to the fella who measured it. So he can measure again if everything is now the way he wanted it to be. go with him. he knows what he's talking about

Kalli

Gun Jam

Okay so the 6 deg shims were causing a different vibration a really high speed one that would cause objects in the rear view mirror to become fuzzy. (objects in mirror are clearer than they appear)This starts at about 60 and gets gradually worse until about 75 then it clears up. when it clears up a 2nd vibration starts that is heaver.

I came up with a method that would allow me to check the angle of the pinion/trans/ds within a 1/2 deg. Basically it involves some ramps and a jack on the rear end, a 4 foot level, a base line, and Scott's favorite the Robart Incidence meter to find the angle.

****Here is the problem****

6 DEG SHIMS: Trans -3.5
DS 1.5
Rear 1.0

2 DEG SHIMS: Trans -3.5
DS 0.25
Rear .25


WHAT THE HELL

Apparently I need a serious lesson on how to install shims. I figured it was logical and I didnt think a 6 deg shim would actully move the pinion up 6 but I sure as **** didnt expect a .75 deg change with a 4 deg difference in shims

I installed the shims with the fat end facing the front of the car and placed the shim so the fat end met flush with the end of the pearch on the axle. This leaves about an 1" of shim haning out the back beyond the rear of the pearch.

What is going on here?

-Gun

Scott H.

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