pinion angle and leaf springs

[tr8todd]

I'm helping out my local Pastor buddy of mine with an interesting project. He picked up a 56 Hillman Husky that sat in a field in Maine for the last 35 years. You ought to see the rot on this thing, but we can fix that. He's decided to install a 2.3L Ford, a 4 speed tranny an a Dana 44 out of one of those post office Jeeps. Now that we have the Dana installed under the car, the pinion points downwards about 10 degrees, and we need it to point upwards about 10 degrees to line up with the output shaft on the transmission. I slackened the u bolts and jacked up the nose of the diff till it pointed in the right direction. It created about a 1/2" space at the front of the spring pad. Can I just weld on a spacer to take up that space or should I remove the pads and weld on new ones with the correct orientation. My big concern with the quick fix is that the springs little locating pin won't be making full contact.

 

[elrey]

Remove the pads and replace. You will be at peace. --elrey

 

[jimbooth019]

You can purchase wedges that slip between the spring and the diff designed for caster change on front diffs.