ready to install lcas, panhard, etc.. how do i adjust?

[V]

Ok, i just recieved my spohn poly/rod adjustable lcas and poly/rod panhard and then I have a set of bolt on relocation brackets. Â*I also havea set of '02 WS6 take-off shocks which im putting on to replace my leaky passenger shock. Â*At the same time, i'm installing my magnaflow cat back and a replacement driveshaft. Oh and im putting my stock springs back in to replace my damaged intrax which are gettign replaced under warranty.

Heres my questions, i know how to physically install and adjust the parts, but im not sure to what settings i should adjust them to. Â*I have the adjustable torque arm under the car now already and i set that to the recommendations with the angle and all but when the oem tq arm broke it messed up alot of things and without the relocation brackets in then, i have no clue how close it was. Â*I need to know what to measure to set to what angles for certain performance(mainly street for now) I know every car has to be dialed in different but i just want to know a basic starting point. Â*also with the panhard i assume i just measure side to side and adjust it to center the rear when the weight is on it. Â* within the next month i plan on putting in performance shock and a new set of lowering springs so I assume i'll have to adjust it again for the new springs.

[Injuneer]

You've got the right idea on the panhard rod. When you pull the stocker out, set the new one to the same length. When you install the new one, check both sides to insure the body is centered correctly side-to-side over the rear axle assembly. Measure from the inner edge of the wheel or tire to a structural point like a subframe box. Adjust the bar on the car, as required (that assumes it is "double adjustable" and can be turned on the car to change its length. If it is "single adjustable" you will have to pull one end off to adjust the length).

On the LCA's, if they are adjustable, I would strongly recommend you VERY CAREFULLY adjust them so they are both exactly the same length as the stock arms you removed. There is no reason to adjust them, unless you LCA relocation brackets don't have the holes arranged in the correct arc and/or your car is seriously lowerd. Even then, you're talking fractions of an inch. If there is some evidence your rear axle is not centered in the wheel openings front-to-back, then you might consider adjusting the length to center them. But it is critical to make sure that both arms end up exactly the same length, or the axle will be set at an angle to the body and you will have alignment/thrust angle problems.

Once you have everything else done, check the pinion angle on the adjustable torque arm. For a realtively stock/bolt on setup, you might only want -1deg. For a big HP setup, with poly ends, you might want to go as high as -3deg (maybe only at the track, limiting it to -2deg on the street). Rod ends and a big power setup, -1.5 to -2.0 deg.

[V]

ok thats basically what i thought abotu everything. Â*right now i only have an air lid and exhaust, but plans are in the works for a blown 422 stroker, so this setup is just getting done now. Â*I am lowered severly right now due to crappy intrax springs, but those are getting taken care of. You can see in my avatar how much ground clearence i have bettwen the TQ arm crossmember and the ground, lol. but anyway, so then ill just set the lcas to stock length and leave them at that with the relocation brackets. Â*

My only questions still is setting that pinion angle, this is where i get confused, Â*What part do i measure to get that angle. Is it the angle between the drive shaft and pinion or pinion and level or what, can you just clarify that for me. Â*when i put the tq arm in, it said to measure angle of driveshaft before dissasembly and then after make it -1or -2. Â*i did it -1 only, but like i said i broke my stock TQ arm right before that and had an 88 iroc tq arm in it as a temp repair, i also damaged a few other parts so i'm not sure if that first measurment was good or not. Â*Is there a base setting that a stock pinion should be at? Â*I also assume its measured with weight on the axle. Â*i know i may be confusing you, but i hope you get what im asking.

[Injuneer]

The rear axle has to be fully loaded, so you'll have to put jackstands under it. The way I've seen it done by Steve Spohn is to measure the angle on the DS, then measure the angle on the pinion, by putting the level under the torque arm mount (flat bottom). The resulting angle (driveshaft minus pinon) is what you are setting. Should be a "\ /" pointing down. The difference of -1deg should be good. I never measured the stock setup, but I suspect it was between -1deg and "0".

It's very hard to read the little $6 angle finders with any accuracy, but I've set mine that way. Steve had an electronic angle finder that he just placed in both locations, pushed a button and the reading for the difference between the two angles showed up on the display.... for my current setup it showed -1.8 degrees. That's a setup capable of 800 ft-lb (5,000rpm with a 300-shot) on launch, with the rod end on the TA.