pinion angle?

whats a good pinion angle to start with mine is set at -3 1/2 degrees now i was told thats way to much

all upr front and rear soild bushings stock rear springs lakewood 90/10 and 50/50 with anti roll bar with that angle the car 60ft. is 1.38 - 1.41 ass end off car does not move on lauch but the front extends strut with out pullin the wheels is this good or shud it be pulling the wheels any at all its a 523 with f-1 i figure it wood be tryin to go to the bumper with that much pinion angle

Not trying to piss on a fire but........... pinion angle on a stock suspension car is not as important as people think. (YES, GO AHEAD AND START YOU DANG BASHING)

Things like ride height, angle of lowers compared to parallel, front end height, spring rates and shock settings are more important. To be honest, I have never even checked pinion angle on my ride. If I was to guess a number, I would say around 1.5-2 degrees but it may be as little as 1. Setting up everything else correctly is a lot more important. Squaring the the rear in the car with the lowers, setting axles square side to side in the car with ONE upper and then just attach the other. If you have an ARB you can just preload a little with it. If not then you can use one upper but you probably don't need much.

Again, not trying to start anything negative but most people don't even know how to measure pinion angle correctly.

i undderstand that but i dont want to bind the u-joints up and break em or cause any other problems just would like to have a safe # to set it at

whatbumper wrote:not trying to start anything negative but most people don't even know how to measure pinion angle correctly.

That is a good point. It is a measurement that does get figured incorrectly often times (in both separate street & drag combos) when people use the angle of the pinion in reference only to the ground, instead of correctly referencing it's angle to the driveshaft's angle. The correct way gives the combined true rear U-joint operating angle (aka pinion angle).

all junk wrote:whats a good pinion angle to start with mine is set at -3 1/2 degrees now i was told thats way to much

If your number of -3.5* represents a true U-joint operating angle, it sounds excessive for a drag car if your using solid bushings. But if your -3.5* number is only in reference to the ground, it's pretty much a useless number (at this point) without also knowing the driveshaft's angle. You should check Wolfe's site, it might still have U-joint operating angle suggestions for the different rear bushing types commonly used.

all junk wrote:i figure it wood be tryin to go to the bumper with that much pinion angle

In my opinion, (unless you have a pinion snubber traction device) adjusting "pinion angle" should never be used as a chassis tuning tool to get a car to hook. This is because the angle of the pinion has no mechanical effect on the suspension other than by excessive pinion angle causing dangerous U-joint binding. It should only be adjusted to achieve either a "street/highway" angle profile, or a "drag only" angle profile to help both the front & rear U-joints survive. Now that's not to say that there aren't some out there that have had success using U-joint binding as a chassis/suspension tuning tool. From what I have read on another forum it sounds like Team Z might sometimes advocate using excessive pinion angle/U-joint binding as an adjustment tool for the "stock suspension" stuff, (if I remember correctly it was referred to as "thinking outside the box"). And theres nothing wrong with that, it's fine if U-joint binding works for some people. I just think it's too dangerous to fool with.

How did you find that 3 1/2 degrees?

What is your engine/trans angle?
driveshaft angle?
rear pinion angle?

What is the angle of your LCA compared to parallel?

Just trying to help a fellow fox guy out.

[quote="richter69"]

whatbumper wrote:Not trying to piss on a fire but........... pinion angle on a stock suspension car is not as important as people think. (YES, GO AHEAD AND START YOU DANG BASHING)

Things like ride height, angle of lowers compared to parallel, front end height, spring rates and shock settings are more important. To be honest, I have never even checked pinion angle on my ride. If I was to guess a number, I would say around 1.5-2 degrees but it may be as little as 1. Setting up everything else correctly is a lot more important. Squaring the the rear in the car with the lowers, setting axles square side to side in the car with ONE upper and then just attach the other. If you have an ARB you can just preload a little with it. If not then you can use one upper but you probably don't need much.

Again, not trying to start anything negative but most people don't even know how to measure pinion angle correctly.

x3 now a 4 link pinion agle drives it into the ground i wouldnt worry other than having enough to keep the shaft in.

The pinon angle should be correct even no matter 4 link, ladder bar, or stock suspension. Obviously, it is easier to maintain it with a 4 link. IC changes do not have to reflect a difference in pinon angle. If your car works better after changing pinon angle, then your are getting it out of a bind and closer to center. Negitive 1 to 2 degrees should work best on any car.

The pinion (or it's angle) can't "drive" a 4-link suspension (or anything except a pinion snubber setup) into the ground, engine torque & the placement (length & height) of the I/C does that.

We set up our new rear this weekend. Stock suspension car. We extended our wheelbase almost an inch. Set up the rear side to side and squared it up in the car. After doing all of that we checked the pinion angle just to post it here. We normally don't care. It checked out about 1.5 degrees. This was measuring the crankshaft angle, drive angle, rear angle and figuring the actual pinion angle from that.

Sounds like you should have happy u-joints.

whatbumper wrote:We set up our new rear this weekend........It checked out about 1.5 degrees.

Just looked at Wolfe's site again and the pinion angle vs Fox bushing type suggestions are still there. Your -1.5* looks right in the desired area.

i run - 3.5 and my car loves it