if you adjusted your pinion angle, come in!

[rojizostang]

Spydershaft + Steeda Sport Springs. I've got NASTY vibration around 80mph.

Also, if I have a passenger in the car and gun it in 1st and 2nd the driveshaft will actually rub the tunnel.

I've got the Steeda Adjustable Upper and am getting the pinion angle adjusted this coming week. I will report the pinion angle they set.

Hope this fixes it.

for sure let us know. get a 5lb sledge and hammer the floor board everywhere the ds rubs while it's out.

 

[bigwilly43729]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum, but not new to this mustang or pinion angle/driveshaft problems and thought I'd share some of my findings. I'm no expert by any means; just a regular joe.

Anyway, I've had two different shafts. A Shaftmasters and now a Powerhouse. The Shaftmasters shaft just didn't work out. Period. Noticable vibes at 90mph; car felt like it was coming apart at 120mph. Adjusted pinion angle repeatedly from -2* to 0*; nothing worked.

EDIT: I did buy the shaft secondhand and the guy told me it was from Shaftmasters. They did work with me to resolve the problem and offered to rebalance the shaft. Basically, I'm not trying to say that they have a bad product, but that this particular shaft option just didn't work out for me.

Enter the Powerhouse. This time, while there was no shaft in the car, I took the measurement from the transmission output flange and the pinion flange to get the angle that I wanted (-1*). Car is smooth as a baby's butt now. Could have been the shaft (most likely) could have been the angle (probably not).

In browsing this thread, I noticed some things that I encountered that weren't mentioned.

-If you have LCA relocation brackets, it will affect your pinion angle. Make sure you readjust it if you have these.

-I saw that one guy had his shaft rubbing in the tunnel. There is a stamped hump in the tunnel that can cause your shaft to rub it, particularily if you are lowered. I attached pics if you don't know what I'm talking about.

-I actually wrote out which way to turn the UCA with a sharpie on the frame of the car; I kept forgetting which way did what. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic, but maybe I can get one tomorrow and post it up.

Hope I was able to help.

 

[don_w]

Welcome to the forum, Willy... what took you so long to get here!

And +1 on the PH shaft. I've had mine for 2-1/2 years and I love it.

 

[bigwilly43729]

Welcome to the forum, Willy... what took you so long to get here!

And +1 on the PH shaft. I've had mine for 2-1/2 years and I love it.

Funny thing is that I've been a member for quite some time. I guess I signed up a long time ago and simply forgot about it. Oops.

But I'm here now and that's all that matters!

 

[GIG4FUN]

Funny thing is that I've been a member for quite some time. I guess I signed up a long time ago and simply forgot about it. Oops.

But I'm here now and that's all that matters!

Thanks for posting here. Lurking had to be fun.

Posting will be "lots funner" but if you spell wrong or talk about something you have without a scanner/reciept you may need to put your gloves on.

Welcome!

 

[rojizostang]

bigwilly, welcome to the forum. the reason i started this thread was to see if adjusting pinion angles actually makes any difference. in my case, rebalancing the driveshaft is what fixed the problem. i do have adj lca's, but the shaft vibe problem was solved before i installed them.

others swear by adjusting the pinion angle...but i'm not convinced.

 

[marcspaz]

bigwilly, welcome to the forum. the reason i started this thread was to see if adjusting pinion angles actually makes any difference. in my case, rebalancing the driveshaft is what fixed the problem. i do have adj lca's, but the shaft vibe problem was solved before i installed them.

others swear by adjusting the pinion angle...but i'm not convinced.

IMHO the pinion angle has got to be off by quite a bit to cause vibration in most cases, such as +8 degrees. In some cases, owners have reported 1/2 of a degree seems to make a noticeable change in vibration.

The main point of correcting pinion angle is not to stop vibration, but to be at the correct operating angle, reducing driveline losses due to binding. I tend to think that if a 1/2 degree changes vibration, such as -2 vs -1.5, I would assume the shaft is not balanced or indexed correctly.

In my car my pinion angle can be anywhere between -2 and +4 with no vibration. However, at +4 my car is .18 seconds slower on average compared to being at -2. Also, at +4 my u-joints were shot after the first season of racing this car. My second set seems a lot happier at the end of this season.

 

[rojizostang]

marcspaz, i think we're on the same page.

 

[bigwilly43729]

bigwilly, welcome to the forum. the reason i started this thread was to see if adjusting pinion angles actually makes any difference. in my case, rebalancing the driveshaft is what fixed the problem. i do have adj lca's, but the shaft vibe problem was solved before i installed them.

others swear by adjusting the pinion angle...but i'm not convinced.

In reading, the pinion angle seems to be the most common culprit. The problem seems to lay when someone does something to the car to affect it and doesn't realize it. I had my angle professionally checked before I installed the shaft and it was at -2*, but before I did the shaft, I did the LCA relocation brackets and all seemed well. So when it came time for the shaft, I thought I was at -2. WRONG!!!! I was at like -8!!! I was getting vibes at like 65mph. Rechecked and readjusted and got the vibes to be tolerable up to 90mph.

But I have read about guys getting done in by bad shafts. As long as it works, right?

 

[rojizostang]

well i think marcspaz summed it pretty well...for the pinion angle to make a difference, it's gotta be pretty far out. i never did adjust the pinion angle to stop the vibes, i checked the angles before purchasing adj lca's, and was at +1 and -2. i reinstalled the shaft after a couple of different balancing jobs, and got it pretty much perfect before installing the adj lca's. i just set angles the same as before installing the lca's. also, most of the ds shops that i talked to aren't much into believing the the pinion angles make a whole lot of difference. they say that there's about a six degree operating range before you start having any effect, fwiw.

 

[GT John]

Here ya go guys/gals havent seen this posted.

http://www.cherod.com/mustang/HowTo/LCA%20_adj.htm

Oh yeah, you might want to see the movie
http://video.stangtv.com/video_detail.php?mId=5889

 

[oman_cobra]

its a long thread, but very useful... anyhow, im having adj upper & lower control arms, swaybar, & a spyder shaft... & i have a noticeable vibration especially at 5th gear...
suggestions ??

 

[rojizostang]

its a long thread, but very useful... anyhow, im having adj upper & lower control arms, swaybar, & a spyder shaft... & i have a noticeable vibration especially at 5th gear...
suggestions ??

i would suggest that if adjusting the angle doesn't help, get the ds rebalanced.

 

[marcspaz]

You should also makesure your wheel track is dead-on. I have seen 4mm - 5mm offset cause vibrations.

 

[james432]

IS THE STANG TV the right way to do the drive shaft angle>im ordering my uca today.and i have the same angle tool there using in the video.i have a stock DS for now too

thnaks,james

 

[rojizostang]

i think i've seen that video. if i'm not mistaken, they did the adjustments on a v6 mustang and weren't really all that careful about how they measured the angles on the flanges. the best way to get your measurements is with the drive shaft in place first, and establish its angle, remove it and then measure the transmission flange and the rear end flange, and then figure the difference. weight should be on the rear axle. all the rest of it about the car being level and all that is a bunch of hooey, imho.

if you have the stock ds, i don't think you need to worry about the angle at all, even if you're lowered a little. IMHO...

edit: if you have the stock 2 piece ds, the front flange angle makes no difference. if you're determined to check/adjust the rear, you obviously can only check the angle on the rear half of the shaft

 

[me32]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum, but not new to this mustang or pinion angle/driveshaft problems and thought I'd share some of my findings. I'm no expert by any means; just a regular joe.

Anyway, I've had two different shafts. A Shaftmasters and now a Powerhouse. The Shaftmasters shaft just didn't work out. Period. Noticable vibes at 90mph; car felt like it was coming apart at 120mph. Adjusted pinion angle repeatedly from -2* to 0*; nothing worked.

EDIT: I did buy the shaft secondhand and the guy told me it was from Shaftmasters. They did work with me to resolve the problem and offered to rebalance the shaft. Basically, I'm not trying to say that they have a bad product, but that this particular shaft option just didn't work out for me.

Enter the Powerhouse. This time, while there was no shaft in the car, I took the measurement from the transmission output flange and the pinion flange to get the angle that I wanted (-1*). Car is smooth as a baby's butt now. Could have been the shaft (most likely) could have been the angle (probably not).

In browsing this thread, I noticed some things that I encountered that weren't mentioned.

-If you have LCA relocation brackets, it will affect your pinion angle. Make sure you readjust it if you have these.

-I saw that one guy had his shaft rubbing in the tunnel. There is a stamped hump in the tunnel that can cause your shaft to rub it, particularily if you are lowered. I attached pics if you don't know what I'm talking about.

-I actually wrote out which way to turn the UCA with a sharpie on the frame of the car; I kept forgetting which way did what. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic, but maybe I can get one tomorrow and post it up.

Hope I was able to help.

i have that same issue when having a full car. you dont even feel, it. im gonna try stiffing up the rear shocks for now.

 

[james432]

so on a stock DS i should messure it on the rear and the pinon flang the ds should be -2 and the flange 0?i have the pro-kit and my steeda adj uca will be here this week..i have the same angle finders in that video

 

[CandyRedGT]

I HOPE that when we install the upper adjustable arm, upper mount,lower NON adjustable arms(all BMR) i don't have the vibration issues. My car is NOT lowered. But i'm installing a 475 Saleen early in May. Was told i would get alot better traxction with the arms. Any thoughts???? Thankyou,Joe

 

[rojizostang]

I HOPE that when we install the upper adjustable arm, upper mount,lower NON adjustable arms(all BMR) i don't have the vibration issues. My car is NOT lowered. But i'm installing a 475 Saleen early in May. Was told i would get alot better traxction with the arms. Any thoughts???? Thankyou,Joe

my guess is that if you're having vibe issues now, you'll still have them after installing the suspensions components. in fact, they could be a little worse since you'll probably have bushings that are a little harder than stock. if you're having vibe issues after just installing the drive shaft, imho the problem is with the shaft.

there are a lot of opinions that have been expressed in this thread...i see you're not not lowered, so i really doubt that your vibe issues are caused by anything other than the driveshaft....perhaps it could be a rear end issue if you did a gear swap also

control arms might help with traction if you're having a lot of wheel hop...but for better traction i think better stickier tires are going to help a lot more than control arms