twisting center diff on fron sas dana 30 to make pinion higher?

[93 x]

like it says what do you think? I have an 86 ranger with an early bronco dana 30. i know i can try and find a dana 44, but i already have the 30 but has anyone ever twisted the center (as to not mess up the caster) to make the pinion higher. I messed up my transfer case front bearing pretty bad at full flex one time. let me know your ideas so i can fix this!! thanks. (also it looks like the tubes were just pressed in i see no welds not even where the rosebud welds are supposed to be.)

 

[IZwack]

To make the modification more simple, instead of rotating the center or differential section, cut and swap the "inner knuckle" or "C"s instead.

But taking a step back, the idea will not work because then the axle shafts will rotate in the wrong direction (the ring gear is engaging the opposite side of the pinion gear but the pinion gear is still rotating in the same direction) - so your rear axle will be pushing the vehicle forward while your front axle is pushing the vehicle in reverse.

 

[93 x]

To make the modification more simple, instead of rotating the center or differential section, cut and swap the "inner knuckle" or "C"s instead.

But taking a step back, the idea will not work because then the axle shafts will rotate in the wrong direction (the ring gear is engaging the opposite side of the pinion gear but the pinion gear is still rotating in the same direction) - so your rear axle will be pushing the vehicle forward while your front axle is pushing the vehicle in reverse.

well i was thinking it may be more simple to heat up the center diff around the tubes and jack on the end of pinion. but just pushing up the diff just a little bit it wont make it rotate backwards only if i removed it and made it look like a high pinion but im just making it a little higher.

 

[IZwack]

well i was thinking it may be more simple to heat up the center diff around the tubes and jack on the end of pinion. but just pushing up the diff just a little bit it wont make it rotate backwards.

Same thing as cutting the inner knuckles and rotating them by a few degrees. But having said that, unless this is a dedicated off-road vehicle (with a manual t-case that allows rear-wheel-drive-only and lockouts at the hubs - both of which will give you a non-rotating front driveshaft on the highway), you can't really just set the pinion angle at an arbitrary angle to get more clearance and/or decrease driveshaft angle. The pinion angle is dependent on the type of driveshaft you are running (double vs single cardan vs CV) - which, when combined with the distance between the transfer case and the axle (in both the X and Y axis) will determine the pinion angle.

If you want to keep the axle (and not swap it out for a high pinion version), then try searching Google for "high angle" driveshafts. You probably won't find an off-the-shelf solution but there are companies out there that will make one to your specifications (u-joint size, length, single vs double cardan, etc..). High angle driveshafts will allow the axle to droop to its full potential and not put as much lateral stress on the transfer case's front output shaft bearings. You can also try moving the front axle forward a bit which would decrease the driveshaft angle (at the t-case end) at full droop. Or just limit-strap the front axle to stop it from killing the t-case.