Last night I was helping a friend change his pinion seal. When we went to remove the front bushing we noticed there was a lot of tension on the bushing.
With the bushing removed the companion flange is touching the fiberglass in the hump. It seems the pinion angle is too high in the front.
We are doing the job on a 4 post.
Is this normal? In order to get the bushing back in we will have to pry the bracket down quite a bit to install the bushing. He said he had to add a second large washer when he changed it a while ago.
Is there any way to lower the pinion angle or what can cause this.
Thanks,
Joe

 

It's likely that the floor has sagged. It's a common problem in C2's. One of the patches (that works quite well) is to put a spacer between the cross member and the floor. I did that with mine to address a similar situation although mine didn't hit when just sitting. It touched under hard acceleration.

It's also not uncommon to find washers in with the front rubber mount to add a little extra space. That will change the pinion angle that in extreme cases, can mess up your "U" joint angle and result in a vibration.

Steve

 

Yes, it's normal - that's why the procedure in the Chassis Service Manual says to stuff a piece of wood between the top of the diff nose and the floor before you remove the nose bracket. The pinion angle will return to normal when you replace the nose bracket and use the correct (new) OEM snubber bushings. Don't use the hot-rod poly bushings - they're too thin, don't have the molded-in washer and spacer tube, and will place the U-joint too close to the floor.

 

Thank you, Joe for posting this for me. Thank you to the members that responded withthose good ideas.