Eyeball This Pinion Angle

[Casey.425]

New Tom Woods Rear CV Driveshaft installed with my 4.5" lift. Had a 4x4 shop dial in my suspension. The rear pinion looks slightly lower than the DS angle. I know it should be within 1-3 degrees lower than the DS angle. thoughts? No MML, no Tcase drop.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Ooh that pinion angle is way too low. This is what it should look like.

 

[Casey.425]

Ooh that pinion angle is way too low. This is what it should look like.

View attachment 250088

Copy that, thanks Jerry! I'll get it more straight onto my rear DS. My worry with that however, tilting the Pinion Angle up more, is the rear coil buckets are in the stock location on the frame side- they curve real bad. I think I need to relocate them.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Copy that, thanks Jerry! I'll get it more straight onto my rear DS. My worry with that however, tilting the Pinion Angle up more, is the rear coil buckets are in the stock location on the frame side- they curve real bad. I think I need to relocate them.

It's far more important to correct that pinion angle than worry about the resulting curve rear coil springs which is not a show-stopper issue.

 

[Casey.425]

It's far more important to correct that pinion angle than worry about the resulting curve rear coil springs which is not a show-stopper issue.

Good point, Jerry! @Jerry Bransford I have dual rate coils on my Jeep- everything I can find shows folks adjusting pinion angle with all 4 wheels on the ground and removing both upper control arms while jacking the pinion up. I don't want to risk my coils unloading and the axle "flipping" on me. Should I adjust the axle at full droop while the rear is on jack stands? Also, is It okay to disconnect both UCA at once, or should I do one side at a time?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

The pinion angle needs to be set with the weight of the Jeep on the axles so the angles will be correct for when you're driving. You have to unbolt the control arms in pairs since having one side's control arm bolted in place would prevent the axle from rotating to raise/lower the pinion angle.

 

[Casey.425]

The pinion angle needs to be set with the weight of the Jeep on the axles so the angles will be correct for when you're driving. You have to unbolt the control arms in pairs since having one side's control arm bolted in place would prevent the axle from rotating to raise/lower the pinion angle.

Understood. Thanks for all your help and clarification Jerry!
Someone, a smart guy who I trust, told me otherwise. He said that unbolting the upper control arms (wheels on the ground) with my long arm setup and dual rate coils would cause the "axle to flip" and I would damage a lot of things He recommended a full droop in order to adjust the pinion, which seems contrary to what I've seen in videos.