VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc acceptable drive line angles

The engine and transmission will sit in the car at 2 degrees down from horizontal. the s10 diff will sit at 8 degrees up from horizontal. Will this angle combo give an acceptable ride? I know these angles ideally should be the same, but nothin's purfect. Would rather not do the shim option if possible.

Hello 37 Ryan, As a general rule there should not be more than a 3 degree difference from the driveline to either unit. More than that and you might feel the surges as the driveline speeds up and slows down from the u-joint action. Remember each angle also depends on the difference in elevation, and distance from each other the components you are connecting are to one another. You might have to actually draw it up carefully to a scale of say 2" = 1' on paper and then measure the angle on the driveline to trans, and the angle of the driveline to differential. I have seen pretty acute angles on a driveline but they were generally on Monster trucks where the owner did not care about the feel. They were also not driving them long distances. In the end you may have to adjust one or the other angle so you can get close to an ideal set-up. Hopefully you can decifer these ramblings. Good luck on your project. Art

I am not sure about enclosed driveline but are probably very similar, open drive universal joints start a vibration at about 8 degree drive angle and at about 20 degree at high speed can self destruct.
Tony