It is all clear now, the way you all explained setting pinion angle is very clear. The last question I have is - Can I have the set the pinion angle while the truck is on jackstands, no tires, and it is level?
That's the tip I was looking for, thanks 'bigtimjamestown'!!... Off to the garage for some weekend fun. Thank you everyone, you all were a HUGE help!
Split driveshaft? What about us 3/4 and up trucks with the carrier bearing? Is the degree towards the carrier bearing, or do you pretend it's not there and run for the transmission? Also, what are you checking for "level"? The truck sets a tad lower in the front than the back naturally, but make the underside of the frame level anyway? I (with my pea sized brain) was thinking I'd just put a board across from under one spring to the underside of the other spring, and make sure that board was directly under the yoke. Then measure as close to straight up as I can by setting a speed square on top off the board to find the distance from board to yoke. Put my new axle in, and set it to the same measurement. After you are finished laughing, could you tell me what is wrong with this approach? Many thanks!
Tech stuff Here's a tech article that gave me the big picture theory, it might help you too! http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/axle/8.html
Thanks~ That is a good article, but there is no mention of the split drive shaft our original poster of this thread has, or what rules apply to that... (Or do you disregard the the fact that the carrier bearing is there?) I'm still wondering about the way of checking proper angle that I had mentioned before. Board across the bottom of the springs, measure up to the bottom of the yoke, make sure the new axle is set to same.
Instead of doing the board trick, why don't you use a degree finder and see where the original rearend is at then set the new one up the same way.
That could work... Sorry, carpenter first, mechanic~ somewhere way down the list. Knee jerk reaction is to grab a board. (I already have those laying around.) But yes, and thanks! A degree finder would work fine. That also solves worrying about the whole carrier bearing issue.
