[Canzus]

I bought a used/abused '76 Capri II with a 289/T5/4.11:1
8" Ford, but the idiot previous owner screwed up the rear
end install something serious. He had the pinion pointing
at the tranny, it's about 7 degrees up, and the tranny is
about 2 degrees down...

I'm looking at resetting the pinion to about 5 degrees
down, but it may not be enough...

Thoughts??

SteveL

[poncho62]

The pinion angles should be the same at both ends of the driveshaft.

Are you getting any vibration or "U" joint wear?

[bracketeer]

pinion angle should be pointed down 2 to 5 deg depending on horsepower. when you launch the car the pinion should come up in direct line with the drive shaft.
i have read several articles saying both pinion angles should be the same. i am not going to argue the point. all the drag racers i know all set the rear angle and don't worry about the front one. your choice.

[poncho62]

Drag cars are set up for constant acceleration and axle twist................street cars are not.

[Centerline]

Originally posted by bracketeer
pinion angle should be pointed down 2 to 5 deg depending on horsepower. when you launch the car the pinion should come up in direct line with the drive shaft.
i have read several articles saying both pinion angles should be the same. i am not going to argue the point. all the drag racers i know all set the rear angle and don't worry about the front one. your choice.

This is true for a "RACE" car but for the street the angles should be the same. If not you'll be wearing out "U" joints on a regular basis, not to mention other problems caused by the vibrations given off by the misalignment.

For street use the angles should be parallel. If the trans angle is 3* down the pinion angle should be 3* up as in this drawing from the Inland Empire Driveline web site.



Centerline

[Canzus]

What lead me to the problem was the vibration
when I got on it, wicked doesn't begin to come
close to discribing it... So for my lunch hour
today I spent a bit of time gathering data at
work today, basicly going around measuring
pinion angles of various vehicles in the parking
lot. Most of them were stock, but a couple are
somewhere between mild and wild street cars,
one of them is the equivilent of the Capri, it's
a mid '80s Mustang with a 347, T5, and 3.70:1
gearing, his pinion is set at 6* down, while the
tranny is 2.5* down, so I think I'm on the right
track, all I have to do is find/build a 13* shim,
I'll let you know how it goes...

SteveL