Measuring Driveline Operating Angles

probably one of the easiest but most misunderstood aspects of driveline setup diagnosis and repair is the measurement and calculation of universal joint operating angles the purpose of this video is to help you to better understand the basics of this simple but important operation let's take a look at how it's done in this video we'll experience the measurement and calculation of a common driveshaft application to measure the drive line slopes used to calculate the working angle you will need a protractor it must be capable of accuracy to within one quarter of a degree usually this requires a spirit level protractor or better yet a digital protractor let's begin by finding the slopes of the components involved they are the transmission drive lines and the rear axle first we'll measure the slope of the transmission it's the actual centerline of the output shaft it can usually be measured from a flat surface 90 degrees to or parallel to the output shaft of the transmission accurately measuring the slopes is extremely important you must make sure you are measuring the true center lines of the components involved there are adapters available for the digital protractor to allow the measurement of slopes to be taken directly off the bearing caps in light duty and quick disconnect applications this is a very accurate way to obtain a reading another good method to obtain a reading in heavy-duty full round applications is to remove the bearing cap and take the reading directly off the yoke in this application remove the snap ring from the universal joint and take the reading directly off the bearing cap utilizing an adapter this slope measures four degrees down the next slope we must have is the centerline of the coupling shaft this is measured directly off the two this slope measures seven degrees down now the drive shaft the slope measures eight degrees down finally we'll measure the slope of the axle this is the actual centerline of the pinion shaft this slope measures six degrees now if you noticed as I measured slopes I said they were either up or down this refers to the inclination of the slope as viewed from the side of the vehicle if the slope descends from the front to the rear of the vehicle the slope would be down if the slope rises from the front to the rear it would be up now that we have accurate measurements taken let's calculate our angles before we start the math let's take a look at what we mean by universal joint operating angle we need a universal joint to transmit power through an angle this means we'll have two slopes intersecting each other at a given point the point where these two slopes intersect will form an angle this is the operating angle now let's do the actual calculation we know that the transmission slope is 4 degrees down the coupling shaft slope is 7 degrees down the driveshaft slope is eight degrees down and finally the axle slope is six degrees down now add or subtract the intersecting slopes depending on the following if both slopes are in the same direction subtract the lesser slope from the greater slope to obtain the operating angle if both slopes are traveling in different directions add the two let's calculate the operating angles in our example since the transmission slope and the coupling shaft slope are in the same direction down we'll subtract the lessor from the grader to obtain our first operating angle our first operating angle is three degrees our next operating angle is formed by the coupling shaft in the drive shaft slope once again they're in the same direction down so we'll subtract the lessor from the grater and our second operating angle is one degree finally our third operating angle is formed by the driveshaft slope and the axle slope once again they are both in the same direction down so we will subtract the lessor from the grater and our final operating angle is two degrees no matter how many universal joints you have in a given application all the operating angles are calculated in the same manner just remember to add or subtract slopes where they intersect to calculate the angle now that you have carefully measured and calculated the universal joint operating angles consult your local driveline shop your original equipment manufacturer or your service manual to verify they are correct

Channel: Spicer Parts

Views: 91,087

Keywords: anglemaster, dana, spicer, u-joint, axle, driveshaft, driveline, angle, car, truck, jeep, heavy duty, heavy duty truck, driveshaft repair

Id: TUFzehQBDPI

Length: 6min 49sec (409 seconds)

Published: Tue May 14 2013