gmitch, I am not on the same page as you when it pertains to pinion angle, and actually; neither is the roddingroundtable.
It is 100% fact that, even with rod-ends, the rear end will articulate under load.
My question to anyone who thinks you should set pinion angle at 0 is, would you rather have drivetrain bind pulling into a Sonic Drive-In.....or would you rather have bind while accelerating under full power for a 1/4 mile, or on a road course?
-2 may be a little much, but is a great starting point. Fortunately, we have done testing over the years to validate the common theory about pinion angles. If you don't use some sort of device to actually monitor the drivetrain angles while driving the car, you are simply guessing, which commonly leads to leaky pinions, bad seals, and noisy bearings.
The goal is very simple. You want the pinion and the crankshaft on the same plane under acceleration. I adjust my pinion angle off the back of the crank.