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Setting Pinion Angle Question

To: Dan Warner <dwarner@electrorent.com>, Joe Timney
Subject: Setting Pinion Angle Question
From: Dick J <lsr_man@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 18:08:24 -0800 (PST)
I sure hope somebody here can explain this to me.
 
Normally, when setting pinion angle in a street car or street/drag car, the 
pinion is set with about 7degrees negative angle; the driveshaft angles to the 
rear of the transmission at around 3 degrees, and the transmission yoke has a 
positive setting approximately opposite (7 degrees) of what the pinion was. 
That makes zero final angles.
 
Land Speed racers (and I guess Latino Low Riders as well) can confront a whole 
different problem, and I'm not sure of the solution.  Now that I have all of 
the pieces (differential, transmission, motor) mocked up between the Studebaker 
rails, I find that the transmission yoke wants to be about six inches lower 
than the pinion yoke (because I've lowered the car so much).  This will result 
in the driveshaft "decending" from the Pinion to the transmission at just about 
3 - 4 degrees, maybe a little more.  Geometrically, this means that if I just 
set the two angles upside down (pinion angle about 7 degrees positive, and 
tailshaft angle about 7 degrees negative)  and I'll end up with the same 
set-up.  However, since the pinion is going to try to climb the ring gear, does 
this mean that I'm going to increase vibrations rather than decrease them.  
 
I'm running dual trailing arms with short coil springs and a panhard bar.  
Windup wont be so bad, so the setup might work OK with about 3 degrees of 
pinion angle - - - -but - - - -which way do I put it"  Three negative on the 
pinion, and three positive on the transmission is going to result in six total 
degrees and that seems totally wrong!  I can't set zero degrees on both the 
pinion and drive shaft because the front of the motor would then be about six 
inches lower than the tailshaft on the transmission???
 
I sure don't want to raise the motor up high enough to get "conventional" 
angles, because the carburetor will then be through that beautifully smooth 
Studebaker hood.
 
Help!
Dick J
In East Texas


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