driveshaft angle.

[briney]

i am in the process of converting my F100 over to 4BT. due to crossmember clearance issues, i ammoving the engine and trans into the middle of the car. this means approx. 3 inches to the left. ( when sitting in the car. ) the driveshaft yoke on the diff is approx.4 inches off centre as well. when i move the whole show over, i imagine this will ruin the driveshaft angle. what can i do about this ? it is swb, so not a long driveshaft. double cardan joint maybe ? anyone know if the 9 inch centre can go in upside down ? i could flip the housing over. any suggestions ?

[AlleyCat]

Sorry but you can't put the carrier in upside down.It would run with the housing upside down but in reverse.

I don't have any knowledge of the 4BT swap but I do know there is a running thread over in the engine forum.Maybe someone else has encountered this same problem.Hope this helps.

[briney]

what i was meaning was, if i flipped the housing over, would the centre be able to be fitted the right way up ?

[MadMaxetc]

If they don't line up Off center that is not a big deal as long as its only a few (less than 2) deg. Don't try to "angle" the engine to point toward the rear end, just point it straight back.

As for the angle when you look from the side, you want the angle fron horizontal (level) to be the same on your engine/trans and the diff. Most trucks are about 5deg stock. You can shim the rearend if needed. Summit and Jegs and many others sell them. The come in 2deg incriments. If you are off more than 4deg you should re-weld the spring perches because you don't want to stack more than 2 of the shims (even if they have teeth)

WHen you combine these 2 angles you will get the true Drive Angles. You will have to use some Trig from Highschool to do it.

[MadMaxetc]

what i was meaning was, if i flipped the housing over, would the centre be able to be fitted the right way up ?

No, the bolt patern is such that you can NOT do this. This was done so that you wouldn't install the pumpkin upside down.

[FORDification]

Also, the center section of the 9" housing has a large protrusion to clear the ring gear. There wouldn't be enough clearance for the ring gear if you were to attempt flipping the housing.

[Thunderfoot]

Not sure but I think as long as these angles are not more then 5 degrees max you should be ok... quick dirty drawing...

[briney]

hope it doesn't look too much like the drawing. i am mucking around with it this weekend. will advise.

[71PA_Highboy]

Briney,

Why are you moving the engine? It seems to me that keeping the driveline angles straight would be more important than fabbing up a new cross member, and fabbing the new cross member may be more 'long-term maintenance friendly'.




Eric

[averagef250]

You can run 1310 spicer joints to just under 25 degrees. You can run 1350 joints to a max of about 15 degrees. 1330's are right in the middle of the road. U-joint life goes down exponentially with an increase in angle though. 25 degrees with a 1310 joint will yield maybe 5% of the normal 1310 joint life at 3 degrees.

As long as the angles at each U-joint are the same you are fine. It is extremely hard to exceed max U-joint angles in a 2wd.

Many vehicles are built with a side-side offset with a driveline, the offset isn't usually much though because it isn't an eye pleasing sight to see a driveline that way.

[briney]

the crossmember is part of the chassis. i also would like some more room around my steering box. i'm having a better look at it all today.

[briney]

had a better look at the whole show. not only is the gearbox offset, but the tunnel too. so, it stays right where it is. no worries about the driveshaft. thanks guys.