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Front pinion anlgle sucks

I think the problem is your shackle. It is so long it is rocking the axle down just put some shims under the springs and bring it back up to where it needs to be or move the rear mount up to the top hole on your shackle. I have 4" springs and I run the 4.250" shackle from ORD. and my pinion is almost perfect and my caster? is at 8*

When I looked at the pictures, that is the first thing I thought too.
 
man i cant wait to post a pic of mine, assuming it wont bind to the point that it wont let me install haha im going to put the conversion ujoint on and see how it goes
 
I know the shackle caused the problem, my problem is that I am afraid that if I put an 8* shim in it will fix the ujoint issue but create a steering issue. This is what I am trying to avoid. Does anyone have any idea how much shim I should use to find a happy medium between the pinion angle being correct and the steering working properly?
 
Get an angle finder, park on level ground and measure your caster angle. Put a shim in that will put your caster between 5* and 8*. You should be good.

I do not have a good pic of my front pinion but in my gallery you can sort of see it in the pic of my front shaft.

Ira
 
Here is what my front pinion angle looks like I just snapped this one.

P1010002.JPG

As said before my steering is fine and my caster is at 8* which seems to be pretty good for a Dana60

Ira

P1010002.JPG
 
sandawgk5 said:
Here is what my front pinion angle looks like I just snapped this one.

View attachment 24674

As said before my steering is fine and my caster is at 8* which seems to be pretty good for a Dana60

Ira
Thanks, that's what I need. I will get my truck washed and get the angle finder out fri evening or sat and see what I can come up with.
 
I know the shackle caused the problem, my problem is that I am afraid that if I put an 8* shim in it will fix the ujoint issue but create a steering issue. This is what I am trying to avoid. Does anyone have any idea how much shim I should use to find a happy medium between the pinion angle being correct and the steering working properly?

Why in the hell do you want a pair of spring shackles, which cause too much pinion angle? toss those shackles, and your problem will be solved. If you want to lift your truck, then buy a set of lift springs.
 
JEBSR said:
I know the shackle caused the problem, my problem is that I am afraid that if I put an 8* shim in it will fix the ujoint issue but create a steering issue. This is what I am trying to avoid. Does anyone have any idea how much shim I should use to find a happy medium between the pinion angle being correct and the steering working properly?

You have already created a steering issue with those long ass shackles, you rotated the whole axle back, pinion down, either put some shim in there to raise it back up, more near stock position, or get bigger lift springs maybe...


edit, it also looks like you may have a weird riding setup there anyways, as the rear of the spring is way lower than the front,,,hmm
 
4xcrazy said:
You have already created a steering issue with those long ass shackles, you rotated the whole axle back, pinion down, either put some shim in there to raise it back up, more near stock position, or get bigger lift springs maybe...



yeah I did that once... put longer shackles on to see what size leafs I would need to be legal ride height in my area.. made the truck wonder all over the street... horrible steering issues and all.....


edit, it also looks like you may have a weird riding setup there anyways, as the rear of the spring is way lower than the front,,,hmm

I was going to say that he was going to have a bad steering setup although from seeing what you typed here made me go look at the pics again.... we need a better pic of the front as it seems someone put some sort of steel under the frame and re-mounted the spring hangers down to get more lift cheap!!! BAD IDEA!!!!!! look at the steering arm.. it looks that it is on top of the axle and not offset too much..... the extended shackles may have been added due to the dropped front end of spring hanger!!!! :doah:
 
I was going to say that he was going to have a bad steering setup although from seeing what you typed here made me go look at the pics again.... we need a better pic of the front as it seems someone put some sort of steel under the frame and re-mounted the spring hangers down to get more lift cheap!!! BAD IDEA!!!!!! look at the steering arm.. it looks that it is on top of the axle and not offset too much..... the extended shackles may have been added due to the dropped front end of spring hanger!!!! :doah:[/quote]


Not sure what you looking at? Where the springs mount are all stock, no metal welded in or relocated. Only mod is the longer shackles. The reason I did this is because if I go back to stock shackles with 38.5 tires I will rip the fenders off. Not to mention it would look stupid. I know I could go with a spring that is 2" taller but I don't want to limit my travel with a larger, stiffer spring either so the longer shackle is a comprimise that would allow me the 2" of lift without stiffening the suspension or limiting travel. The only downfall is the pinion angle. I have been driving this thing on and off for about 10 months like this with no problems in the steering area. The only problem I have is that if I go over 65 or so it starts to bounce a little. I assume that because of the large sidewall area of the tire bouncing at the high speed. Other than that the truck rides and drives great and does great offroad until I get on it real hard and cause the front pinion to rotate downward and then it binds a little (you can hear it and feel it a little but no breakage).
 
RootBreaker said:
yeah I did that once... put longer shackles on to see what size leafs I would need to be legal ride height in my area.. made the truck wonder all over the street... horrible steering issues and all.....




I was going to say that he was going to have a bad steering setup although from seeing what you typed here made me go look at the pics again.... we need a better pic of the front as it seems someone put some sort of steel under the frame and re-mounted the spring hangers down to get more lift cheap!!! BAD IDEA!!!!!! look at the steering arm.. it looks that it is on top of the axle and not offset too much..... the extended shackles may have been added due to the dropped front end of spring hanger!!!! :doah:


Ok figured out what your looking at. That is not my truck. Those pics were added by BIGBADCHEV84. My angle isn't quite that bad. My pics are back on page 2.
 
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BIGBADCHEV84 are those pics of your ride? If so how bad does it bind off road and is the yoke cut out?
 
yeah thats my truck, it bound just driving in 4wd on flat ground, and that is a stock front shaft in it with about 16" of suspension lift and didnt fall apart either, i did however explode the cv in another front stock shaft mudding with it. last weekend i put the stock hangers back on it and torched off the front hangers and ditched the rear shackles, im in the market for some 12" springs to do it right.
 
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