Just checked my driveline angles. Here's what I got
Trans 2.5 degrees
Driveshaft 6 degrees
Pinion 3-3.5 degrees

Is my math correct that the car has 3 degrees of pinion angle? Thanks.
Noel

Noel,
Is the trans tail pointing down towards the rear?
Is the pinion pointing up or down towards the front?

If the trans number is down, then the pinion should point up something like 1 to 1.5 deg less than the trans points down.

David,
Thanks for the reply. The trans is down at the back about 2.5. I think that makes it 2.5 positive.
Pinion is 3-3.5 negative or down at the front.
Driveshaft 6 degrees up to the front.
I know my leaf springs will settle some, they're new. If not, I will have them re-arched to lower the back of the car. That is going to change the 6 degrees I have. Thanks for your input on these angles.

Noel

Either bring the rear up closer to zero, or the rear up to zero. With both pointing down you add them both together, so you've got say, 2.5 and 3, that's 5.5 deg.
If the front were 1 down, and the rear 1.5 down, you'd have 2.5 deg total and that would be pretty good, under max power the angles would probably be zero.

Here is a good site with advice.: http://www.iedls.com/ptsetup.html

See if you can shim the trans tail up to zero or 1 deg up. Othewise you need to raise the pinion.
David

[ 02-27-2005, 03:31 PM: Message edited by: davidpozzi ]

Reading all of the info on this site on pinion angles does get a bit confusing. Opinions vary anywhere up to 5-7 degrees. Once I actually run the car and get the rear ride height set, I'll re-measure everything and shim the pinion up to around 0. I've read that the angles are not to be exactly the same so there is movement in the u-joint. Thanks for your help David.

Noel

Info from Denny's Driveshafts:
How much pinion angle?
That's a loaded question. The best answer is....the least amount of driveline or u-joint angle is the best amount of angle. Try to achieve the least amount of u-joint angle but don't make it less than 1 degree. A little known fact about u-joints is that they require about 1 degree of operating angle to get the needle
bearings rotating. If they do not rotate they will fail. Too much angle will also cause them to fail. The type of rear suspension also plays a big part in setting the angles as well as the engine/transmission angle. Leaf spring cars have a need for more downward pinion angle due to spring wrap-up while coil spring cars control the situation better. Hard acceleration as in the case of a drag race car requires a different setting than a street driven car. Traction bars, ladder bars, 4 links, independent rears all have special needs and requirements.