So I got my torque arm installed, and started messing with the pinion angle. I was having major problems trying to get the pinion angle correct, but I got it to -1 degree. The driveshaft was -1 degree (I could not get it to read anything except 0 no matter how much I adjusted it) and the TA mounting bracket was 0 degrees. This does not sound right at all. But I was not thinking about it, I drove it 1 block. It shook and rattled and made tons of noise at 5-10 mphs so I didnt go any faster. I got back to my garage, put the rear on jack stands, and looked under to see this: the bottom, rear part of the torque arm, the adjustable part that bolts to the rear mounting bracket, came out of the adjuster. I go to put it back on and see that the rear end it pointing at the underside of the car. I pulled the driveshaft a little and that showed me that the rear springs are shaped like an S now and both are caught on bolt heads. I have no clue how the f*ck I am going to get those off the bolts and the rear end pointing straight so I can get the torque arm angle right. Anyone have any ideas of what I can do to make my car work again? I am lost, frustrated, tired, sore, etc. I just want to drive my car...

 

put the jack stands under the frame of the car and put the jack under the back of the rear end cover I think that helped on mine

 

I got the springs back to normal. They went back when I took the load of of them. It was loud, and I thought I was going to be impaled by one when it breaks, but they went back without much more than some scratches.

But I still cannot get the pinion angle right. Here's my question, after the pinion angle is set, should the rear be facing slightly upward toward the car or slightly downward toward the ground?

My other question is, if, where the torque arm mounts to the rear end, is supposed to have the negative angle, and the driveshaft has the positive angle, that means the rear end should be pointing slightly down and the driveshaft should run upward from the rear end to the tranny, correct?

 

Generally, you end up with the pinion shaft and the driveshaft forming a " \/ " pointing down. That way, under load, as the rear axle starts to rotate the pinion shaft upwards, it will end up with the pinion shaft and the driveshaft in a straight line.

 

correct , if you have sub frame connectors(or the body) use that as 0 or level go 2* down or away from that. I've got to redo or at least check mine, for new springs.

 

Now when you say a \/ pointing down do you actually mean \ <---- would be the driveshaft and / <---- is the rear end ? So the open end of the \/ is upward? Because mine is the complete opposite at the moment. Mine looks like /\ obviously not to that extreme, and I got it to drive pretty smoothly. I got the driveshaft at a +2 degree, and the rear at a -4 degree. The only noise it makes is when I hit a bigger bump it sounds like someone just kicked the underside of my car, but otherwise my wheel hop is gone and the car drives like it used to.

 

I meant exactly what I typed. I have no idea of what you are referencing your +'s and -'s to, since I can't see how you are holding the level. But, since the pinion angle is the difference between the two numbers, (+2) - (-4) sounds like a +6-degree angle, which as way off.

 

The directions that come with the torque arm (from BMR's site) use the example of the rear having a -6 degree angle and the driveshaft having a +4 degree angle. They then say to subtract the rear's angle from the DS's angle. Which in this case would be a +10...but according to the directions, that equals -2...the directs also do not says what + and - means in relation to how its measured. So a \/ helps me about as much as +4 - (-6) equaling -2...which it doesn't. Mine will not end up in a \/ shape and have the correct degrees....Right now it does not seem to be wrong, so I guess I am stuck bringing it somewhere and having them confirm it is correct or fix it if it is not...

 

actual artist rendering

please excuse my lame drawing, my spelling sucks too ,thank god for Google tool bar with spell check.

this is what I'm doing -2* from sfc, don't let the degree finder confuse you good luck

 

See that is what I thought it was supposed to look like, but mine is the exact opposite...son of a bitch

 

Actually a "\/" would have helped you if you just listened to what I said, instead of getting defensive. Sorry I upset you.

Have a nice day.

 

I am not being defensive. You seem to be the one with the emotion here. I am just trying to make sure I have my car setup correctly. Sorry...

 

Why not put an angle finder on the front of the engine (read and record that number) then put the angle finder on the rear (remove rear cover) read that angle to figure out your pinion angle with the car resting on its tires. Then make your adjustments, that is the better way.

 

Tom.....I have a question, when checking from the engine you could check anwhere the would be 90* from the crank like front of a head or something right....then check the angle of the mounting part of the center section on a 9"? B/c doing it that way I get a number way off from checking my u-joints angles at the rear.

Should I go with the way you described?

 

wow, i think this thread is heading south fast. Theres an article someone posted in this section awhile back explaining how to set this up with pics. You need to use the front ujoint bearing cap as the centerline (0*) line because your output shaft is base. Then you use the angle of the driveshaft portion of the front ujoint. Continue rearward measuring the angle of the rear driveshaft unjoint angle, and finally the pinion half of the rear ujoint angle. Do the math appropriately, and you should end up at -2*. I dont think using the body and a baseline is at all the correct way since you're measuring driveline angles, which has nothing to do with the chassis and has everything to do with output shaft angle vs. input (pinion) angle. Do a search for the thread im talking about.