Is this driveline angle ok or will it create problems? If not a good angle how would I go about correcting the problem?
Will Probably be ok, if the drive shaft isnt ultra short. Can't realy see the distance from trans to diff in that pic.
Yep, you will be fine. There are a lot of cars running around with more severe angles than yours. The u joints will "work" with that angle and are made to do exactly that. Don
You are going to have that lateral offset between trans output shaft and that of the diff. input shaft if the bulge, as viewed from behind the car, of the rear axle housing. rather than the pinion input shaft is in the center. This condition is more noticeable than most when using a 9" ford axle, which seems to have a wider offset. As long as they are both square with the frame, as they should be anyhow, it works fine.
I've run some pretty severe driveline angles in 4X4 stuff and it seems to work OK but the U-Joints do wear out a little faster.
That offset horizontal U-joint angle has to be included with any vertical angle, and becomes a compound angle. There are really three options, IMO. One, relocate the engine/trans to align with the offset pinion, like Detroit did on many cars/trucks. Two, modify/install an axle with a centered pinion/offset center. Or three, mock up the chassis for the actual/design ride height, and position the engine/trans/pinion for minimum vertical U-joint working angles, around 1 degree or less. The chart above clearly shows the reason for a max of 3 degree U-joint working angles on normal road vehicles. What it doesn't show is the rpm relationship with angle and joint life. As the angle increases over 3 degrees, the rpm limit also decreases to match the lower charted joint life percentages.
Just a note: running with zero degree offset will ruin U joints fast because they need to move a bit to distribute the grease around the joint. No movement, and the rollers brinell into the trunnions rather quickly. Cosmo
What is the angle of the crankshaft/pinion centerline, from a side view instead of top? The centerlines appear to be parallel from a top view, but they also need to be parallel, or close to it, when viewed from the side.