The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop two piece driveline alignment Q

ok im contemplating putting a thm475 trans in a 2wd '70's year pickup in place of a th350

i have the correct original factory matching two-piece driveshaft for this 475 trans

the driveshaft and trans are both from another truck identical to this other one, i didnt get to save the bracket setup that the carrier bearing of the driveshaft bolts to

so im going to have to have one made

so therefore i need to know what kind of angle the driveshaft halves should be at, or if its really that important to keep the driveshaft straight horizontally/laterally?

alot of the times especially on 4x4's and big bolts you see the resar half of the driveline after the carrier bearing drop down to the rear axle at a pretty steep angle, so it doesnt seem important to keep it as straight as possible ?

what about the front half of the driveshaft ?

just making sure

thanks for any info thoughts opinions ideas

The rear end and the engine/transmission will be on the same plane, lets say 3 degrees for arguments sake. It is importand that the front shaft joints have enough angle to work, i.e, for the rollers to rotate in the cups. So you do not want that shaft at the same plane as the tranny. If you place it at 1.5 degrees upward then the rear shaft would then be 1.5 degrees downward and these angle would cancel each other. If the yokes are all properly aligned then it would work fine. Three and four piece drivelines are subject to similar conditions. It is important that the joints do not exceed the maximum working angle but this is seldom the case except in extreme off-road setups, etc. If you have any angle on the front shaft on your truck I doubt you have any concerns.