8.8 pinion angle help please

[Fordguy54]

im swapping a ford 8.8 from a 1999 explorer sport and i cant find the pinion i need or how to set it

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

This info is from guys on the site that have helped with my questions, hopefully I've got it straight.
At ride height;
If your drive shaft has a total of two u-joints, then the pinion center-line and the tranny center-line should be parallel.
If your drive shaft has a total of three u-joints [double-cardan, cv joint], then the pinion center-line should be parallel to the center-line of the drive shaft. E.G.;You should be able to draw a straight line through the drive shaft center-line and the pinion center-line.
Hope that helps,

Richard

 

[Guilius]

From the tech library on explorer 8.8 swap:

Pinion Angles:

Setting the pinion angle is vital. Basically, the pinion angle is the degrees in which the axle pinion points up. There are two ways to do this. If you know the correct angle (in this case 6 degrees, i.e. the pinion was angled up six degrees from the level of the spring perch), you can level the pinion and simply set the perch at six degrees using a dial protractor (cheap and available at Sears or other tool stores) and weld it into place. The other way is to actually install the axle with the perches loose and the u-bolts not fully tightened. Center the axle on the springs, hook up the driveshaft, rotate the axle inside the u-bolts until you get the right driveshaft and pinion angles, tack-weld the perches in place then remove the axle to do the final welds. This latter method also works with determining shock mount locations.