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Terms
Angle:
An angle is the measurement of angularity, in degrees, between any two planes. Where those 2 planes
meet, they form an angle. In other words, where two lines intersect, providing they are not parallel, there
is an angle. In the case of driveshaft tech, where something rotates through that angle, we call it an
"operating angle"
Slope
Slope. A slope is a special kind of angle. It is the angle formed between the horizontal surface of the
earth (one plane), and the object in question (e.g. driveshaft) (second plane).
When talking about driveshafts, we say that a slope is down if, when viewed from the side of the vehicle, it is higher at the transfer
case and lower at the axle (i.e. it descends from the center to the rear of the vehicle for a rear driveshaft or descends from the center
to the front of the vehicle for a front driveshaft). The slope is up if, when viewed from the side of the vehicle, it is lower at the transfer
case and higher at the axle (i.e. it rises from the center to the rear of the vehicle for a rear driveshaft or rises from the center to the
front of the vehicle for a front driveshaft).
Phase:
We say that 2 u-joints are in-phase if they are fitted to yokes that are fixed on the same shaft, such that the 2 opposing bearing caps
in the u-joint that are held captive by the yoke on the shaft (the inboard yoke's u-joint caps) are both in the same orientation.
A pic is worth a thousand words. Look at the pic to the left. In the top shaft, the 2 joints indicated by the
green arrows (ignore the fact that the right-most is part of a double cardan CV assembly) are in-phase
because in both joints, the bearing caps held captive in the shaft are both vertical, while the bearing
caps that are free (not held captive in the shaft) are both horizontal. If you then look at the bottom shaft,
you will notice that this is not the case with the joints indicated by the blue arrows. The left has captive
bearing caps vertically oriented, while the right most joint has it's captive bearing caps oriented
horizontally. The joints are therefore 90 out of phase.
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Note that this means that they would be in phase if you rotated one or the other 90 (by cutting and re-welding the shaft). Note also
that 90 is the most they can ever be out of phase, for as you pass through 90 difference between the two joints orientation, you
begin to come back into phase.
As we learned in part 1, there are 2 types of driveshaft that interest us, each with their own separate geometry requirements.
However - this is not the only acceptable method of achieving the proper matched-angle geometry. The
angle between the driveshaft and pinion can be opposite to the angle between the transfer case and
driveshaft - as long as they are equal. Note that they must still be in phase. This unusual configuration is
called "Broken back" or "W" geometry (see pic at left ), and is common on agricultural equipment,
marine drives, some tractor-trailers that use stub-shafts between front and rear of a tandem assembly,
and most often on power-takeoffs like hydraulic pumps and PTO shafts.
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Most of the equipment that uses driven shafts in a broken-back configuration though, are fairly low RPM (but not all). The reason is,
due to the nature (geometry) of the configuration (again, have a look at the picture above) with this setup, there's a lot more inherent
strain on the slip member as it rotates. because of the opposite angles, the shaft "wobbles" the slip member back and forth as it
rotates - like a skipping rope being swung. At high rpm, with anything but the tightest slip-joint assembly, this would cause a horrible
vibration - that's why Spicer light duty driveshafts do not normally come factory in this arrangement. Note however, that some Land
Rovers do have stock driveshafts in the broken back configuration, so it can work! I don't have any experience with these Rover's, but
I imagine that the angles in the stock configuration are pretty darned small. As with the more standard single-cardan setup - start
increasing the operating angles of the u-joints and the elliptical paths get more and more elliptical, the angular velocities (amount the
shaft speeds up and slows down each revolution) get greater, and when you spin that shaft at 1000rpm, the more likely it is that the
shaft will be noisy, harsh, and vibrate - EVEN IF the angles are matched. Again...time for the double cardan CV shaft!
Double cardan (near) constant velocity driveshaft (commonly known as a CV driveshaft) geometry.
Proper CV driveshaft geometry is actually a lot more simple to understand than single-cardan
driveshaft geometry. Pictured at left, proper CV shaft geometry is achieved when the operating angle
of the CV joint (head assembly) is less than the maximum (and there is some room for increase in
operating angle under suspension droop), and the operating angle between driveshaft and pinion is 0
under cruise throttle.
This is because of the clever design of the CV joint, or head assembly. If you refer back to the picture
of the CV shaft components in pat one, you will see that the CV head assembly (double cardan joint)
contains two cardan style universal joints and a centering yoke assembly. This clever arrangement
serves to neutralize the effects of the increasing and decreasing angular velocities, right at the head
assembly. This relieves us of having to arrange the pinion yoke operating angle to be equal to the
transfer case operating angle. Instead, the pinion is arranged so that the operating angle between it
and the driveshaft is zero degrees (0).
Transfer case
Measure the slope of the transfer case output yoke by placing the protractor or angle finder
(inclinometer) on the bottom of the bearing cup, (see pic at left). Position the angle finder on the clean
flat surface of the bearing cup, level the bubble (if equipped) and note the reading.
If your transfer case has an output flange, the best way to measure the slope is to temporarily remove the shaft from the flange,place
the angle finder against the flat machined surface of the flange, then add or subtract 90 from the reading taken. Remember to reattach the driveshaft so that you can correctly measure its slope.
Remember that the slope is "down" if it is higher at the t case than at the axle.
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Driveshaft
Measure the drive shaft slope, as shown, by placing the angle finder directly against the tube. level the
bubble (if equipped) and note the reading.
Remember that the slope is "down" if it is higher at the t case end than at the axle end.
Axle Pinion
Measure the slope of the pinion yoke by placing the protractor or angle finder (inclinometer) on the
bottom of the bearing cup, (see pic at left). Position the angle finder on the clean flat surface of the
bearing cup, level the bubble (if equipped) and note the reading. Alternatively, the angle finder can be
placed against a flat machined surface that lies 90 to the pinion shaft centerline, the reading taken,
and then 90 added to or subtracted from the result.
Remember that the slope is "down" if it is higher towards the center of the vehicle, and lower at the end of the vehicle.
Step 2 - Find each operating angle between each pair of slopes as follows:
If both slopes are in the same direction (up or down), subtract the lesser number from the greater to
obtain the operating angle.
If both slopes are in different directions (one up and one down), add the lesser number to the greater to
obtain the operating angle.
In the special case of calculating the operating angle at the pinion in a CV shaft application, assign the pinion slope a (+) sign if it is
DOWN and a (-) sign if it is UP, then always subtract the pinion slope from the driveshaft slope, regardless of their relative sizes, and
make note of the resulting sign (+ or -), as this will help in deciding any possible corrective action.
Step 3 - Interpret the results
Assuming a fairly standard 4x4 setup with no pillow blocks or intermediate shafts, once you have measured all the slopes of the
components, and calculated all the operating angles, you should have a piece of paper that has 3 slopes and 2 operating angles
written on it. It helps to have a sketch too, like those shown below on the left.
Example:
Looking at the sample worksheet to the left, and assuming it is for a rear driveshaft
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We can see that the front operating angle is 12. Assuming we are using a 1350 series u-joint, and the vehicle is not a frequent, longrange freeway cruiser, nor does it have a super-flexy suspension with monstrous travel, we decide that this is satisfactory. The axle
joint operating angle is 11. Because it is a rear driveshaft, the rear pinion will rotate up, let's say 2 under cruise throttle. Since our
measurements and calculations were done at static, this means that in reality, under cruise throttle, the pinion slope would change
from 6 down to 8 down (even though the pinion wraps "up" - remember we describe slopes as up or down depending on
orientation between t-case and axle). This would make the axle joint operating angle actually 17 - 8 = 9 at cruise. Since we need it
to equal 12 at cruise, we need to rotate/shim the pinion at rest down 3. This will result in a static pinion slope of 3. the would net a
cruise throttle pinion slope of 3 + 2 = 5. That would make our axle joint operating angle now 17 - 5 = 12 - A perfect match for the
front!
Of course - we would need to make this adjustment (rotate pinion down 3 at rest) and then re-measure and re-calc everything to get
it perfect, as the change may effect driveshaft slope and therefore t-case joint angle too. However, this is unlikely with the magnitude
of the changes in this example.
Example:
Looking at the sample worksheet to the left, and assuming it is for a rear driveshaft
We can see that the front CV operating angle is 22. Assuming we are using a High Angle 1350 series CV shaft, we are comfortably
within the proper operating spectrum here. The axle pinion joint operating angle is -1. Because it is a rear driveshaft, the rear pinion
will rotate up, let's say 2 under cruise throttle. Since our measurements and calculations were done at static, this means that in
reality, under cruise throttle, the pinion slope would change from 28 down to 30 down (even though the pinion wraps "up" remember we describe slopes as up or down depending on orientation between t-case and axle). This would make the axle joint
operating angle actually 27 - 30 = -3 at cruise. Since we need it to equal 0 at cruise, we need to rotate/shim the pinion at rest
down 3. This will result in a static pinion slope of 25. This would net a cruise throttle pinion slope of 25 + 2 = 27*. That would make
our cruise throttle axle joint operating angle now 27 - 27 = 0 - A perfect setup for a CV shaft!
Note that, in the case of a CV shaft, since we always calculate the angle the same way driveshaft slope minus pinion slope, the sign
of the result tells allows us to write an equation, the result of which tells us whether we need to rotate the pinion at rest down or up.
The equation is RR=DS-PS-WA. Where RR = rotation required (of the pinion at rest), DS - driveshaft slope, PS = pinion slope, and
WA is the estimated pinion wrap angle. If the result is (-), we must rotate the pinion down at rest that many degrees, if the result is (+)
we must rotate the pinion up that many degrees.
Of course - we would need to make this adjustment (rotate pinion down 3 at rest) and then re-measure and re-calc everything to get
to perfect, as the change may effect driveshaft slope. However, this is unlikely with the magnitude of the changes in this example.
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