LUVTruck.com

where can i get them ... never put any in

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My old but now gone Luv...

i tried it today and in any gear at around 40/45 it starts so you maybe on to something... i was thinking only in 4th then noticed in 3rd and 2nd if i wind it out all at 40/45....i did check the ujoints twice and feel no movement left/right or up/down so if the angle is off just a bit could the ujoints still be good but just starting to go (with a little shake)

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My old but now gone Luv...

My S10 use to have a vibration around 50mph when I had 4" blocks in the back, then when I went lower with 3" dearched leafs and 2" angled blocks, no more vibration!

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Click on C.M. logo to go to my webpage


RIP R.J.B.

Wheel balance?

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

Yep..a real bad pinion angle will certainly cause a mid range to high speed vibration. It's hell on u-joints too.

My 87 S10 blazer 2dr 2wd has the same problem, because the guy that owned it before me used home-made lowering blocks with the stock full length shocks in the back, and butchered the lower control arms in the front while still using the stock shocks, in a lousy job of attempting to lower it. It rides like crap, and the rear shocks bottom out all of the time. Plus on accelleration/deceleration the rear end shifts and the whole body moves back and forth in the rear. It's a real crack-up to drive around...lol

As soon as I finish my Luv, the Blazer's getting the lower control arms replaced and I'm going to install aftermarket drop spindles in the front, aftermarket lowering blocks in the back, and shorty shocks all around.

I can't bitch though. Other than that it's in mint condition inside and outside, with a 4.3/auto, pretty low miles, and I just picked it up for $1500.00 cash about 2 months ago.

Take a look at your pinion angle with someone sitting in the driver's seat, and figure out how much you need to taper/shim your blocks to drop the rear the same amount and fix your pinion angle. Hopefully that should fix the problem.

Also, I'd replace those u-joints anyway, because the "shake-and-see-if-they-will-rattle" method won't alway tell you if you have one or both going bad on ya, and replacing drivelines and/or yokes in a 30 year old truck isn't going to be a fun thing to do if they should snap and you drop your driveline.

And if your luck is like mine Cat - it'll happen when you are all dressed up, in a hurry, miles away from home, the parts stores are all closed, and you don't have any tools with ya.

So how do I figure the pinion angle I need? ... I have now clue on this... (you mean the angle the drive shaft goes into the axle) also wouldn’t this happen right a way not 3 years or about 2500 miles I have put on it? Just asking not sure, or would this wear a bit thin act up like it is now

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My old but now gone Luv...

The basic idea is to have the driveshaft connect as straight as possible at both ends to keep the flexing at the connections to a minimum.

If the connection at either end is too tilted, then undue stress is caused which is hard on the yokes and u-joints, and on the transmismission/rear end.

Some flexing is impossible to prevent due to the rear suspensions's travel during bumps, potholes, traveling over objects, etc. - but when sitting and not moving, the driveline should not be in a very seriously bent angle at the front where it connects to the output yoke of the transmission, or especially at the rear where it connects to the pinion yoke of the rear end.

If you look under the truck when it is sittng on the ground, while under normal load with a person in the driver's seat, and your driveline looks like it is connecting straight to both yokes front and rear, then you are probably OK, and don't need to worry about it.

If not, then you have a problem that needs to be addressed, either by tapering your lowering blocks or by shimming them to return your driveline to a better and straighter angle.

Whether or not it causes a problem quickly or not is not important - it's still a valid potential reason for a mechanical failure, either in your driveline and u-joints, or if left unchecked - in the transmission or rear end due to excessive prolonged stress and/or vibration.

This little piece of info would have helped me a lot when me and my cousin were a couple of young know-it-all kids that thought we were building the most badass stock car on the planet and were gonna stock-pile a whole lot of trophies racing at local dirt-tracks when we were both young-dumb-and-full-of...well you know what I mean...lol

thank you taz, will check today... never payed attention to the angle before but i thought it was straighter then it was stock

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My old but now gone Luv...

well did a bunch of reading and i understand allot better about the pinion angle ... will see if i can barrow the degree tool from autozone to see what size shims i will need...it all make allot more cense now...
thank for the help we will see if this fixes it or if it is something else

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My old but now gone Luv...

Glad to hear it...let us all know what you find out.

For one its all about geometry... its not about the axle being straight like i thought, its about it being the same at both ends...
example: if for sake the stock angle was 3 degrees at both ends and then you lower you truck but now you have a front angle of 2 deg and a rear angle of 1 deg it will be off... both front and rear have to have the same angle to be in sync... if one is off the will rotate at different speeds causing a vibration wearing out the bearing faster and cause some damage...
So like I say its not about being straight as possible its about having the same amount of +degree as – degree… here check this place to see what I mean http://www.moparts.com/Tech/Archive/axle/8.html

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My old but now gone Luv...

Ouch! That technical stuff hurts my head. I'm way better at changing out sun visors, or installing chrome license plate frames. I can even Armor All the s--t out of a tire.
Very interesting though.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

My bad...lol

What I was trying to say but maybe it didn't make sense was that it is best to keep both angles to a minimum, to keep them as level and close to the same angle as possible, while still keeping the driveline as level as possible.

Where I disagree personally with that article is they are saying it doesn't matter how much your driveline is pointing up or down as long as both end's connections are parallel to the ground and are inline with the crank and rear end's pinion yoke.



I personally wouldn't run something with that steep of a driveline angle that I was going to race with, or that was going to be expected to pull or haul heavy loads, or was going to be worked hard - whether it was parallel and in line at both ends or not.

I personally have seen drivelines on a lot of different types of vehicles fail under heavy loads or hard usage/high stress applications because of the steep angle of the driveshaft, even when the ends were both parallel and in line.

I was taught in the military and in auto tech school to keep the driveline as level as possible and to keep the angles at both ends to a minimum and as level and equal as you can.

(But hey...maybe Mopars have super-dooper driveline powers and are immune to that stuff. )

That's just my opinion though Cat...and it and a few dollars will get you a cup off coffee at any starbucks...so it might be worth about $.02.

In dirt racing we will point the pinion towards the ground to get more forward bite.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

I am with you on that one Taz, that is not right at all. If you can keep your axle in line with the drive shaft you are going to have a lot less problems than how they show it! You are stressing both Ujoints like that and binding the driveshaft a lot harder than if the axle was rotated in line with the driveshaft. I personally have never used the pinion shims, but have always run angled blocks in all my vehicles except the LUV and have never had a problem with vibration except the 2 piece driveshaft in my Dually where I had to have a carrier bearing spacer made. In the LUV I have regular 3" blocks and no problems in the last 20 years with it. I didnt look back through the info, but how low are you in the back Ctmandu???

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Click on C.M. logo to go to my webpage


RIP R.J.B.

3 in the back and 2.75 in the front

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My old but now gone Luv...

I guess it's just one of those things when you are hand-building or modifying a vehile that you want to figure out before you weld and bolt everything in, but in your case Cat, I can't imagine your driveline being in a very steep angle, so I wouldn't get an ulcer over it.

As long as you get both of your driveline's ends parallel, level, and both in line, (and you replace both u-joints just to be safe), you should be fine.

You don't have any leaking out your pinion seal or your transmission rear seal do you?

If you haven't checked them, you might want to, because the vibration might have screwed them up a bit.

The pinion seal takes a bit of muscle to break that darn center nut loose to remove the pinion yoke, but both seals are pretty cheap-n-easy to find at a parts store and replace.

I made my own universal tool for pulling pinions out by using a 5 ft junk piece of 4 inch wide X 1/2 inch thick flat stock. I drilled a big hole in both ends, and drilled holes around that to match most Import and most standard Chevy u-joint's bolt pattern on their pinion yokes.

All you have to do is bolt it to the yoke through the u-bolt holes, stick a socket though the big hole, and brace the other end on the ground to stabilize it. Then you can break the nut loose without stressing the rear end.

To tighten it back up after you replace the seal, you just put the pinion back in and hand-tighten it, switch the bar to the other side of the truck, bolt it back to the pinion yoke, and tighten the nut to the recommended torque spec's.

Here's a pic to show you what I mean:



BTW...I loaned it to a guy that works for a tool rental place in town, he copied it for his boss, and now they rent them out for $40.00 a day...lol

very cool didnt get to it today so next weekend ill try... started on the g200/g180 motor today

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My old but now gone Luv...

how much was it lowered and how?

home depot has an angle finder that you can measure your driveshaft and pinion angles.

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3 inch blocks in the back and tortion bars down 2.75 inches in the front... ill try home depot, thanks

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My old but now gone Luv...