??? about 9"

With my 9" rearend (from a ford p/u unknown vintage) centered on the frame the input shaft yoke is offset to the right by about 3". Are all stock 9"s this way? And do I a)center the motor and trans and let the driveshaft run at an angle,b) set the motor and trans at an angle pointing at the yoke or find a different rearend because the option my friends suggest is having a shop cut down and reweld one side and then buy a custom axle. This would be out of the question due to cost. Some of you experienced guys please sound off. Thanks.
BTW. Above mentioned issue is on a 29 ford chassis boxed and z'd with a ladder bar setup.

Most rearends are offset, not centered. Just center you engine, although some cars aren't. But I think that was for other clearance problems. Your driveshaft will makeup the difference.

Pumpkin!

Bobby,
Center the wheels, not the pumpkin.

Beercan

Everyone,including the factories,runs the driveshaft at an angle,
or offsets the motor to the passenger side.

If the pinion was centered,the center section would be offset and look funny.
If the width is correct,don't worry about it.

OK, the center section is centered and of course the wheels are centered on the chassis, so I will just center the engine and let the drive shaft angle to it. I guess thats why they put u joints in em. Thanks.

Unkl Ian said:

Everyone,including the factories,runs the driveshaft at an angle,
or offsets the motor to the passenger side.

If the pinion was centered,the center section would be offset and look funny.
If the width is correct,don't worry about it.

Click to expand...

Unk, lots of them are offset. I remember narowing a disc brake Lincoln 9 inch 1 1/2" by just using a stock shortside axle on both sides. Some jeeps had it way off to the side and moset full sized vans seem to have a noticable offset, but the engine is usually offset quite a bit on those too.

The offset angle of the drive shaft and ujoints keeps them working. The needles in the bearing cups like it because they roll around and everything works good. If it were perfectly in line they wouldnt roll, and then eventually they would wear little groves and the ujoints would destroy them selves. The same thing can be accomplished by offsetting the alignment up and down.

Google proper driveshaft alignment and you will find lots of info on it.