Long story short; I'm putting my truck back together after doing my 2wd to 4wd conversion. I used a dana 44 and converted it to coils. I want to make sure my pinion angle is correct, and after I installed the front driveshaft, it seems like it's at way too steep of an angle. My question is how do I check the pinion angle (where do I put the angle finder), what is the best pinion angle, and if I'm off, what is the best way to correct it. Also does anyone have any pictures of their front axle and driveshaft? Maybe everythings fine and I'm just being paranoid. Thanks guys!

 

You don't set your front axle according to pinion angle. You set it by caster. Set your axle so that you have a couple degrees of positive caster. Then, you pretty much have to deal with whatever pinion angle you have. If the angle is unacceptable, you must cut the knuckles off the tube and re-weld them at the correct angle. This is known as a "cut and turn". If you have more than a few inches of lift, and set your front axle according to pinion angle.......you will have NEGATIVE caster. This is NOT good. The truck will almost be un-drivable.

How much lift do you have? You can get offset balljoint sleeves, which will give you about a degree or two of additional caster.

 

Do you have low-pinion or hi-pinion axle? If you have coils and 78-79 type axle then you should have ruber c-bushigs. If you do you can buy different c-bushings to adjust your caster. You can turn the drive shaft by hand and see how your u-joint behaves. But when you flex the front end this will change an possibly bind and break your u-joint. You might be able to adjust the drive shaft angle by clocking the t-case, i know that this can be done with atlas t-cases.

 

Hope you guys are still online! Sounds like you can really help me. O.k., I think it's a high pinion but can't be sure, I know it was from a 76 f250 donor truck. I put a 4 inch lift on it. So hillbillydeluxe81, how do I set it for caster and what are the "specs". The 4wd probably won't be used much but I want it to ride great (that's why I went with coils). And where I realized I may have a problem was when I was putting the front driveshaft in and it does feel like it will bind when it goes around. The transfer case is the 205 if it matters. I'm putting a ton of time into this and want to make sure everything is perfect, and I'm not too familiar with the caster/camber/pinion stuff so thanks for your help!

 

Oh, and I did put the Energy Suspension c-bushing kit in it that had the correct bushings to correct for the lift

 

Ok.....how did you weld the bushing tabs to the axle? I'm just curious what you used as a reference? If you welded the tabs at the exact same angle as stock, the caster should be close (assuming you have the correct C-Bushings). The 76 F-250 axle is a low pinion. You need at least 2 degrees of positive caster. Caster is measured at the ball joints. Positive caster means the upper ball joint is closer to the rear of the truck, and the lower joint is angled towards the front of the truck. Basically, rotating the pinion down will add positive caster. Rotating the pinion up will reduce positive caster. If you rotate it far enough, you will begin to get negative caster. Caster is what makes your front wheels act like the front wheels on a grocery cart. Meaning, if you push and let go....it will always wanna go in a straight line (unless you get one of those messed up cart with a bad wheel). Same concept with your truck. Positive caster is what makes your truck wanna go in a straight line when you let go of the wheel. If you have no caster, you will have to constantly work the steering wheel to keep the truck straight. Negative caster means the truck will be completely un-stable. If you let go of the wheel, the truck will instantly turn to full lock. Basically, caster is MUCH more important than pinion angle.

Is your 205 married?? If so.....married 205 + low pinion axle = bad pinion angle.

Before I start explaining how to get the caster set, I need to know a few things. Specifically, how you welded the tabs to the axle. What degree C-bushings you have? What height coils? Drop Radius arm brackets? Are the knuckles currently on the axle?

 

First let me say I really appreciate you taking the time to help me. My 205 is married, I used the 7 degree c-bushings, the coil springs are 4 inches of lift over stock (stock meaning a 79 f150), the knuckles are currently on the axle, and I don't have drop brackets, although the frame of my truck, which is a 76 f350 SCS was a few inches taller than the 150 donor truck so the stock brackets are a couple inches lower than what stock would be. As for mounting the wedges, I couldn't find anyone in the forums who could give me advice on how to do it so this is what I came up with; I used a F150 dana 44 as a referance. I held a long level on the front tip of the factory wedges (front meaning the side of the axle with the differential cover). Once I had a straight line established I measured from the top of the differential housing (in the center) down to my line. I then set my wedges at that same hieght down, making sure that the line from tip to tip was straight with the axle. I looked at my ball joints before and the top one is slightly toward the rear, and it sounds like by what you say I may be close. Maybe the problem is the married 205 and low pinion. Is there any way to check the amount of caster by holding an angle finder on somewhere? And if it is just the transfer case/axle combo, what would be the best way to solve it? Thanks again

 

Ok, it sounds like you have the correct C-bushings. If you welded the tabs correctly, you should be close. With the knuckles on the truck, I'm not exactly sure what you could use as a reference for the caster. I'll take a look tomorrow and see if can come up with something easy to put an angle finder on.

The married 205 uses a very short front driveshaft. But, Chevy and Dodge use the same setup. So, you should be able to get a working pinion angle. Does the driveshaft actually bind? Or does it just look like it will vibrate. If the universal joints don't bind, you can run CV's at both ends of the driveshafts. Double CV driveshafts are pretty common on sky high lifted Superdutys.

Can you post some pics? I'm curious what the driveshaft angle looks like. If it's REALLY bad, there is a chance you could have TOO MUCH caster. You may be able to switch to back to 0 degree C-bushings to fix the pinion angle. Then add some offset ball joint sleeves to get some caster back. I think you can get up to 1.5 degrees out of them. Spec is 3-5 degrees of caster.

 

Oh boy! The dreaded picture posting! I've never done that on here before but if it helps you help me then it's worth a shot. I put the driveshaft in without the u-bolt straps and it seemed to turn fine, then I put it in with the straps and it was binding. I'll try and get some pics up so you can see how it looks. What if you held an angle finder vertically on the spots where the ball joints are? That would possibly tell you some kind of angle, or at least a reading on how far the top ball joint is back toward the rear.

 

Yeah, posting is kinda a pain if you don't already have a pic hosting account setup. You can email me directly if ya want. If the driveshaft is actually binding that bad.....you probably have too much caster.

I'm not sure if you can hold the angle finder vertically. The upper and lower ball joint mounts may be different thicknesses. You can put the angle finder horizontally on the bottom of the lower ball joint. It's not a large enough surface to be 100% accurate. But it will give you an idea. Also, your F-250 axle has flat top kunckles. So, you should be able to put an angle finder on the large flat spot on your passenger knuckle. Even better would be the drivers knuckle...since it's a machined surface (if you don't have the steering arm on).

 

I was able to get some pictures of my 77 F250 with the low pinion D44 and my Bronco with the high-pinion D60. If you go into my profile by plucking az4x4bronc on this posting (choose public profile) look in my 77f250 album you will find them. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks bronc, I'm in the process of posting picture of mine right now, hopefully in a few minutes I'll have them up. I'll definetly check yours out while I'm waiting. Thanks!

 

Why didn't you use a high pinion coil spring front 44 axle to begin with, they are a dime a dozen.

 

hope this worked! I've never posted pictures before! This is the project

 

WHOA! Guess I need to downsize them and stack em! I looked at your pics bronc, and your front driveshaft is way longer than mine and it looks like your transfer case hangs down alot lower. Mark, I couldn't find a high pinion 44 with the 8 bolt hubs. All the high pinions I found were 5 bolt off of the 150's, plus this one had the correct gear ratio. I didn't think a low pinion would make a difference