Driveshaft alignment
 

Alright guys here is a question ?

When lining up a drive and tranny, how many angles can you have and how much ?

The driveshaft guy told me only one angle and keep it under 9 degress.

He also said it is important for the flanges to be at the same angle.

Input please.

The most important thing is to keep the shaft “Faces” Parallel, Now for the run out in degrees from the drive flange to the driven flange (or deflection) After 0 degrees remember that the universal joint is not a constant velocity joint (which would be two Universal joints coupled close together): If there is”More than zero angle” between the input and output and when input is a constant rate then the output will accelerate and decelerate twice per revolution. This effect can be next to nothing for small angles but as the angle increases it can cause a felt*vibration or worse
LOL now with that said when rigging the Original Popeye’s Super boat we needed 8-10 degrees on the driveline behind the front motor to shoot past the rear engine to the tailstock and there never was a problem that I heard of, even with the severe angle and the Race engines beating against them.
* The vibration looks kind of like a sine wave .if you were to graph it.

Best Regards:)

Stay away from zero angle, it will burnell the crosses. You need some angle to make the needles go around in the caps. Depending on rpm and shaft length is how much angle. I have seen boats with 18 deg. Most joints will run with a higher angle but not at the rpm and a fixed angle(offroad)
You can get away with alot, just make sure that the shafts are set up for high speed balance and make sure the balance weights are welded on well not just spot welded.
The lower the angle the better. We shoot for 1.5 deg for 7600 rpm.
good luck.
pat W