RE: DRIVELINE ANGLES:

[Stewart G Griffin]

1) How much is too much in terms of driveline angle being hard on the u-joints?


2) Is it best to try to keep the driveline angle as straight in a line as possible----transmission output shaft as close as possible in a line with the differential pinion?

[Toolmaster]

Driveline Angles & Vibration
by Randy Lyman



http://www.ringpinion.com/ContentFrame.aspx?FilePath=Content%2fHowTo%2fGeneralInfo%2f%2fDirveline_Angles_%26_Vibration.inc

http://www.4x4now.com/gt0899.htm

[Stewart G Griffin]

PT.2

How short can a  driveshaft be before things get tricky?


In other words, what i'm trying to do is get the engine/trans as far back as possible in the chassis and i was wondering how far back is too far back in terms of driveshaft length if that makes a difference.  NOTE: the crankshaft centerline will remain as close as possible to stock specs.  OR, the crank centerline will be as close as possible to the differential's pinion shaft.

[Captkaos]

Technically you don't have to have a driveshaft, but if the drivetrain is say 10" from the ground and the pinion is 2" and you have a 14" driveshaft, that is going to be pretty steep, so a normal u-joint setup isn't going to work.  You need a double cardian.

[Stewart G Griffin]

i'm going to try to have the drivetrain output centerline as close as possible to the pinion's centerline.  i was just worried about when the suspension moves up and down if having a  short driveshaft would pose any problems?   i'm estimating the shaft to be anywhere from 12"-20" ish.

[HAULIN IT]

Stewart, Can I ask...What type of vehicle are you building & how much suspension travel will you need? Lorne

[hilton850]

Seems like I read somewhere that it depends on what universal joints you run.  I looked into the angles a couple years ago for an offroad buggy I was building.  I run spicer 1350 universals in that and the general consensus on those was you could run 7*-8* constant, up to 15* intermittant with the right yokes to prevent binding.  I wound up going with a CV driveshaft that could run double those angles...but that thing had about 20" of wheel travel and 48" driveshafts front and rear...

on a side note...sounds like you're not planning on much leg room if you're going to set the engine back far enough to make a 12" driveshaft.  what are you building?

[Stewart G Griffin]

Alright; i'll tell.

For a real bombshell, please go to the 73-87 trucks section and view my post entitled "C-30 SIMPLEX PROJECT."