dana 44 castor/ pinion angles

[dude772]

Hello everyone.

Ive got a question about the pinion angle and castor angle. Basically I want to know what i should set the pinion angle at. Also I want to know if the angle i set the pinion to will effect if i should adjust the castor angle since ive already got one of the inner "C"s off, and im able to adjust it. Wouldn't be a huge deal to take the other off to adjust it if it would be recomended to change the angle.

I'm going for about 6 - 8 inches of lift when i install the axle.
The axle is out of a 77 f-150, narrowed 6inches and im going to make a custom setup for the radius arms to be the same as the 2008 F-250 instead of re-using the 77 style radius arms with the wedges welded to the axle.

[CheapThrillB2]

caledonia, ontario eh

<----Caledonia, MI

sorry off-topic

[dude772]

Originally Posted by CheapThrillB2

caledonia, ontario eh

<----Caledonia, MI

sorry off-topic

HAHA thats cool...

Apparently your only 5 hours away from here too...
And 2 hours away from where i broke down in Standish .... god that sucked!!!

I sure would like to pick a bone with the guy that worked on my rear axle in Standish!!!

.... 3000km/ 1 week after he did the bearings

[CheapThrillB2]

ring gear bolts come loose?

[dude772]

Originally Posted by CheapThrillB2

ring gear bolts come loose?

Close.... the heads "fell off" of them...



Over torqued maybe? I dont know what happened, but it cost me over $500 to put the bearings in it, and another $250 for a new rear axle afterwards... I was(and still am) not impressed! They are lucky its not worth me going back to ream them out for it.

[Jim Oaks]

IDK, maybe someone here would be able to help.

If it was me and nobody knew, I would look here for driveline angle info:

http://www.drivetrain.com/driveline_angle_problem.html

Ideally, the operating angles on each end of the driveshaft should be equal to or within 1 degree of each other, have a 3 degree maximum operating angle and have at least 1/2 of a degree continuous operating angle.

If you're going to be messing with the inner C's, it would be nice if you could figure out the caster angle on it now and how many degrees it's going to change from it's original stock setup with the lift you're going to setup.

My question would be how close is your tie rod going to be to your track bar mount if you rotate the knuckle?

[dude772]

wow Jim, your all over anything with the word "Dana 44"

Originally Posted by Jim Oaks

My question would be how close is your tie rod going to be to your track bar mount if you rotate the knuckle?

I dont think thats going to be a problem, or if it is going to be, i'll figure out something to deal with it. I'm jsut worried about the technical math type stuff. I would like this thing to be able to steer nicely when its all together...

I'm willing to accept that i wont be able to put the axle together on the bench then toss it under the truck. The basic plan was to get everything setup under the truck and measure and line things up with it in place and measure the angles there.

What I'm really looking for is what would the optimal castor angle be, when the axles completely bolted onto the truck. And what would the optimal pinion angle be with 6 - 8 inches of lift.

[CheapThrillB2]

i have the 1977 D44 F150 and i removed the wedges and will use that point to adj caster. I to have one C off and getting 6" cut from the pass tube to EB width.

[AKBroncoII]

are you looking at 8"s all suspension. What tranny do you have? You will have to trim your crossmember very liberally with a narrowed HP axle. Your driveshaft will also come very close to the crossover pipe on your engine. I'd shoot for 9 degrees of caster. Stock should be from 6 to 7. Use a level on your diff. Level it up vertically, tip your C's back like they are stock, except go 2 more degrees. Then, under the truck you will want around 4-5 degrees. That should put your pinion where you want it and it will steer just fine. There are a lot more things to consider to make it steer properly than just the caster.

[dude772]

Originally Posted by AKBroncoII

are you looking at 8"s all suspension. What tranny do you have? You will have to trim your crossmember very liberally with a narrowed HP axle. Your driveshaft will also come very close to the crossover pipe on your engine. I'd shoot for 9 degrees of caster. Stock should be from 6 to 7. Use a level on your diff. Level it up vertically, tip your C's back like they are stock, except go 2 more degrees. Then, under the truck you will want around 4-5 degrees. That should put your pinion where you want it and it will steer just fine. There are a lot more things to consider to make it steer properly than just the caster.

well yea theres more to consider, but these things are complerely non adjustable once i set them up.

8 inches all suspension yes, im going for an AOD transmission. And as for the crossmember what i realy want to do is cut it off between the motor mounts and built a bolt in middle section with 2 round tubes going accross. That way if i ever need the oil pan off for any reason its not a huge hassle, and easily done. Unlike the F150 and grand marquis 4.6, my dads got one of each and both need oil pans, badly! I dont need to set myself up for that B.S haha.