propeler shaft angle dangle

This is on our '60. It has 2" rancho springs (not my favorite) and degree wedges. Is that a 30 deg. angle? I didn't check but I should have. Yep its bad, at full droop I'm screwed, what makes it worse is the axle is offset, when the passenger side droops it is going to crunch. The only thing saving me is my shocks, they act as limiting straps. What should I do? I know it can droop further on the driver side. I am thinking a limiting strap right to the top of the diff. and a higher angle drive shaft in the future. Comments welcome (remember I plan on wheeling this thing for a while so improvements will happen)

 

well the body is off at the moment.

 

Yep, that's bad.

Switch to a Dana 20 transfer case, and a centered, high pinion rear differential.
In other words. .................., just do it right and be done.

 

holy %&*$. you can't leave that ..... those springs look more than 4" or more ....you need to cut the perches off,clean it up real nice and re-weld with pinion turned up, and lower tranfercase alittle by loosing some ground clearance there . and if you have an extra $600 a cv drive shaft would be real nice. if you don't you will be an expert at changing u-joints on the trail. is that pic with weight on it at ride hight or is the body jacked up to droop the suspention.just my opinion but you can't leave that or wheel it. i think it would self destruct fast .

 

The centered high-pinion axle might work, but I'd be inclined to stay with the D18 and rotate the rear axle pinion upward. You probably want a high-angle drive shaft too.

There's a lot of good info on the Tom Wood's site http://www.4xshaft.com/index.html - go to the tech info and read "Geometry 101."

 

A dana 20 should make it worse, one of the advantages of the dana18 is the rear output is way lower, like 4" then if it came out of the center like a 20. I have 2.5" springs and they don't look half as high as those.

 

Jeeze, I dont know where you shop for driveshafts! My tom woods cv was about $300 shipped to my door with a lifetime trail hazard warranty. It runs at 29* at ride height without the top on, smoothly. I went to a local shop to get my front non-cv driveshaft rebult recently and they rebuilt it with a new tube, one new yoke, balanced, painted, and out the door for $180.


Now, the original poster. DO NOT set up your rear axle and drive line angles for a CV shaft untill you have the body on and, the interior in, and all the accessories (spare tire?) you plan to carry on a normal basis. IF you set it up now, it will be wrong later. This is coming from someone who has done this the wrong way. Trust me. As for setting up the rear for a cv, degree shims are goot for a few degrees, but to point the pinion up for a cv, you really really should weld on new perches. They are available from 4wd.com for about $15.

Definitely look at the tom woods site. Give them a call, their tech/sales department is top notch, and very fair. They won't sell you something that won't work or is overbuilt for your application.

 

This is on my 72 with 4+ inches of lift. This shows how a CV shaft and a rotated pinion help to compensate to large driveline angles. This is with a dana 20 t-case and centered Dana 44 rear axle. Even at full droop there is no interferance with the cv joint.

 

now I'd say the springs on hudsonhawks look like the same lift as dirty bakers. and I was thinking about the $ I said and that was with a shop doing the work and cv driveshaft 'cause I did not have the welder at the time and I was a lost young'un at the time....... but of course $'s are higher in Calif. i just balanced the shaft on the 442 for $80+

 

Wow, the CV in that pic cost me $250 to have custom made at a local driveshaft shop. That included the new yoke for the rear output of the the t-case.

Dirty Baker did say that the body was off of the jeep at the moment. That is why the springs look the way they do. The advise to build everythign out before worrying about the driveshaft angle is good. Only after you are at trail weight should you worry about that.