a 1" drop usually has no effect on performance but will change the P/A slightly.Once you lower more than 1.5"-2" it starts to change the angle considerably which does have an effect on driveline performance.
Just for the record Lightning Force has a great product as well and uses a new pinion flange instead of an adapter.

 

I think whoever manufactures the part for LFP should send some artwork for them to post up...

 

Hey Ron,
First off my Spydie shaft is working great. No issues. But I have a question for you. I have seen alot of posts on different boards about how lowering our cars changes the pinion angle. But no one seems to have any hard numbers. So my question is how much does the pinion angle change for 1 inch of drop? I have a theory based on pure mathematics what the angle change is and I will share my theory. But I want your answer first.
Thanks Scott

 

 

 

 

Why's the popcorn coming out?

 

Beats me? Did I start something? I just wanted to know if Ron had some good numbers for pinion angle change for an inch of drop. Something better than most of the guessing I see posted in different threads.

 

Just waiting to see what Ron's input was, that's all.

 

Well, I just got off the phone with a vendor, because I am getting an aluminum d/s installed and wanted his input on pinion angle, since I have full BMR suspension with a 1.25/front 1.5/back drop. I have fixed LCA's and the stock UCA. I asked if I would need a adjustable UCA to deal with pinion angle, and he said that it is not necessary because drops on our cars really do not affect the pinion angle at all. So, he just saved me $200 plus installation costs, unless I get a vibration of some sort, then it will be back to the drawing board. I agree with you Scott, everyone talks about pinion angles, but can not show any evidence or true numbers.

 

And don't take this as being mean because it is not intended that way. But it seems your vendor has joined that group. Does it seem so? I am sure your install will go fine and the results will be great. But about 6 posts back we have a vendor that says a 1.5-2 inch drop can cause problems and you have 1.5 drop in the back and your vendor says it's not an issue. Can't imgine why anyone might be confused!! So this is just another reason why I asked Ron if he had any hard numbers. I just want to know the truth. Help!!!!!!
Scott

 

I don't mean a driveshaft vendor, I mean BRENSPEED, although the vendor I bought the driveshaft from told me the same exact thing. I was going to buy the adj UCA, and Brenspeed told me to save my money.

 

Umm. Popcorn yummy!

I'm very interested because I would like to do this mod myself and really would like a definite answer. I do trust Brenspeed though. Who did this come from over there?

 

VERY INTERESTING,,,,,,,, I have also learned to trust the opinion of the fellows up at Brenspeed. I am working with them on some different mod as we speak. What we really need guys is to hear from the guys that make these driveshafts for our cars. I am only interested in facts not opinons. You know what they say about opinions...we all have one. Just like some other part of the human anatomy.
Scott

 

When I bought my driveshaft from Shaftmasters, they told me I would not need a adj UCA or LCA's. They said this from seeing their products on cars and not from their opinions. Can they show proof in writing, well I don't know. I do know I got two people out of two people that I talked too that I don't need to worry about pinion angle. Like I said, I will see after I install the driveshaft.

 

I agree with Brenspeed.

 

My turn!!!

 

Scott,
My car is up on stands now and I'll remove the springs and measure the P/A at various ride heights then post here with the data for that, but we generally see that 95-97% of ours need no further adjustments after the install even when lowered and the ones that do are usually lowered more than 1.5" I put that stuff on my website to inform people on what we have found after doing many of these on numerous combinations of aftermarket parts and mods. I always recommend installing them in the car as is first cause generally thats all that needs to be done.
With the design of the 3 link rear suspension our cars have the lower the car gets the more it will affect the P/A. We use the P/A to correct the driveshaft angle on these cars cause the transmission cannot be raised more than 1/4" (yes I've tested that too) The grossly unequal length control arms are to blame for geometry changes. The lowers are twice as long as the upper meaning that as the suspension moves up and down the arc of the control arms is unequal also. Luckily ford positioned the UCA only slightly angled but as the car is lowered and the UCA starts pointing down the worse the indifference gets. Thats why when these cars are slightly lowered it doesn't cause much of a problem but at a certain point it starts to affect not just the performance of the drivetrain but also the suspension as well. Think of it this way when lowering the front of the car it not only affects the ride quality but also the steering (bump steer, negative camber, toe in/out) and that affects the tires and how they perform. We don't think twice about getting the front end aligned and adding bump steer kits or caster camber plates to correct the geometry of the front end but usually very little attention is paid to the rear suspension to correct for the changes made when the suspension is altered.
I've tested this stuff myself numerous times on my personal car and on customers cars. Some cars are more sensitive to suspension changes than others don't ask me why but they just are. It's the reason Ford went through so much trouble putting all those huge bushings, filled panhard bar and the well engineered but monstrous stock driveshaft.
I'll post some results this weekend.

 

Ron,
This is awesome of you to go thru this much trouble to get some solid information on what the P/A does when lowering these cars. Getting solid documented numbers is what is needed to end all of the guessing going on. I have made some rough measurements of the control arms and made educated guesses on what the P/A will do at different lowering levels. My guesses are just based on doing some mathematics to predict P/A changes. Can't wait to see your findings.
Scott

 

CR at Tillman Speed told me that after the car gets lowered, if I start feeling more vibration from the DS then I should look into the pinion angle. sounds like good advice to me