Real question here is, "Do you need to align your bellhousing?"
Ever drive a 10 yard big rig dump truck? Get that puppy loaded up with a full ten yards of boulders, rocks and sand, drop her down into first under, ease out the clutch, the passenger side of the truck will raise up two feet before you move an inch. This is extreme torque. Yeah, you need everything in the driveline aligned.
Back in the Sixties, we ran a couple of super stocks, class A fuelie and class B fuelie, actually two bodies using the same engine. Set some records now and then, which were promptly broken. Green light and off the line, those puppies would snap your head off leaving your head bouncing around on the back seat. Quite a thrill ride. Marrs Brothers, those were our Glory Days. Yeah, you need a fully aligned driveline for this, and two hundred pounds of lead in the trunk to keep you on the ground.
I have a rust bucket, rattle trap, oil leaking, 100 horsepower inline six 3/4 ton '56 Chevy four wheel drive, weighs close to 5,000 pounds. My goodness, I can do zero to sixty in ten minutes on a good downhill run. Well, I think my truck will do this, never have been able to get it up to sixty, shakes apart first.
Am I going to align the driveline? Nope, I am pleased as punch if I can simply get the big ol' trans stabbed in. Heck, the driveline is so loose the truck will roll back and forth a foot before taking up the slack.
What worries me a lot more than driveline alignment, happened today, I am bouncing along, trying to think over all the rattling, clanging and squeaking, jerking the steering six inches to the left, jerking it six inches to the right, working at keeping the puppy going straight down the road, I hear that really annoying sound of some fallen off metal thing tinkling as it bounces along on the asphalt under my truck. Always look over my shoulder out the window, never see what fell off. I figure my truck will either begin spewing oil, the trans will do a face plant on the roadway, one of my wheels will go bouncing by me or... she will keep on trucking.
That ol' puppy keeps on going just like my old lady. Ain't worried about bellhousing alignment. I am worried about my driver's door which keeps popping open when I hit a bump in the road. One of these days I just know I am going to fall out. My ornery truck ain't gonna wait on me to catch up.
These old trucks most of us drive, if you can stab in the trans, this is all the alignment you need.
Billyray
Last edited by Billyray; 04/03/2010 3:39 AM.
