I bought a sammy with a spoa from the PO. The differentials are angled upward towards the transfer case about 5 degrees. is this OK?

I think stock is 11 deg. it can aim almost right at it if it is dual cardin at the top joints on the x-fer.

The front should be pretty flat, how's it drive?

the rear can be rotated up some depending upon what style rear driveshaft you have, as stated above.

It drives terrible, but the drag link is a  mess of welding and crash damage and the tires are worn out swampers. I have parts on the way.
Unfortunately it does not have a double cardan joint.
I also noticed today that the transfer case is pointed down toward the rear about 10 degrees, is that normal? It makes for one hell of an angle at the front U-Joint.

Yes the x-fer does aim down in the back and the front will give you problems at high speed if you have any kind of a lift.

Here is some good info on drivelins and angles.

http://www.4xshaft.com/driveline101.html


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Just looking at the diff angle is irrelvant.  What you need to do is measure the ujoint angles, on each end of the driveshaft.  The angles should match, or be withing a degree or two.  Hypothetically, the diff could be at 20 degrees and be fine, as long as the other end of the driveshaft is at the same angle.
Read the link that my996duc1 posted, it should explain what you should be measuring.

I followed that drawing when setting the rear angle on my Kick with the AE 4.5" lift kit with abysmal results, growling, vibrations galore, and kept blowing out U-joints. I then set the rear pinion angle at 11 degrees with the output of the TC at zero(about 50% of actual full pinion to output angle) and the ride greatly improved.

The moral of this experience is to play around to find the sweet spot.

Here is some good info on drivelins and angles.

http://www.4xshaft.com/driveline101.html


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^^ that.

I was too lazy to explain or find a pic. I've found, especially with leaf springs, that it helps to put the rear pinion a little low.  Torque and spring wrap will bring your pinion up at speed.

I'll take a closer look tomorrow, Ive been drinking on the river all day and now i think maybe the front has a cv joint.
Is the end result that if it doesnt vibrate I shouldnt worry about it, or do I need to worry about U-joint wear?

With the xfer case pointed down and the rear diff pointed up, if they are at the same angle, Im okay in 2wheel drive so long as I have the hubs unlocked. And, in 4 wheel I should be okay for the speeds and distances involved right? Did I get that right or am I drunk?

The rules for the rear driveshaft apply to the front driveshaft  with this major difference:

If you change the FRONT pinion angle in any way from stock, you instantly screw up the Caster angle on the front wheels.  This will affect how the truck steers and handles in a BAD way.  You can compensate for that by carefully removing the hub castings from the axle housing then reattaching them so that the caster angle returns to normal.  It is a Giant PITA to do this in my opinion...

My belief - when it comes to tinkering with the drivetrain from a DAILY DRIVER viewpoint - is to leave everything as stock as possible and only make changes that create the fewest handling/wear problems.

In my case, I have a 4.5 inch SPOA on a daily-driver '88 Samurai.  Since the stock front driveshaft is pretty long and my lift is not Ginormous, the u-joint angles are okay.  Because the rear driveshaft is pretty short and the lift does wear out u-joints back there, I installed a Toyota 4x4 front DC driveshaft and tilted up the axle so that, when the suspension is nominally loaded, there is zero angle on the U-joint at the differential end.  The ony worry I have has so far is the posibility that the pinion input bearing is not getting enough lubrication because of the differential's new, non-stock tilt angle.

Oh and one more thing - Two-part driveshafts on a Samurai are marked for proper asssembly.  Not assembling the two sections properly will cause drivetrain vibrations and accelerated u-joint wear.

See this video for details:  http://www.acksfaq.com/driveshaftvideo.htm

I hope that this helps!

Well as soon as my parts get here Ill slap them on and take her out for a spin. If it handles bad or shakes Ill look into getting some of those spring pad shims.

Just looking at the diff angle is irrelvant.  What you need to do is measure the ujoint angles, on each end of the driveshaft.  The angles should match, or be withing a degree or two.  Hypothetically, the diff could be at 20 degrees and be fine, as long as the other end of the driveshaft is at the same angle.
Read the link that my996duc1 posted, it should explain what you should be measuring.

How did Suzuki gat away with angling the transfer case?

I looked at a aparently stock Samurai yesterday. The diffs angle upward to center and the transfer case angles down towards the rear, about the same as mine.

Have done a good few SPOA,never had a issue with the drivline angles,the rear diff gets tilted "up" slightly towards t-case when you install new leaf pads.You can also do a body lift and get that "extra" tire clearance too!!