Hey Scott, Yeah it can be confusing ,I have been down this road a few times.On a leaf spring car your pinion angle should be 3 neg of your driveline angle. If you drive line angle is set at 5 deg down than your pinion angle should be 2 deg nose up, for the reason being under load would take up the 3 deg. The height of your rear end to the tranny shouldn't matter as long as the angles are correct and the suspension is set at ride height. If its a 4 link car,its different, since the lower link arms are solid and dont move like the leaf spring does under load, both the driveline angle and pinion angle should be the same angle respectively, say 5 deg down then the rear should be 5 degrees nose up,but Im sure factory set most cars driveline angle at 3 degrees down , 5 degrees down seems excessive ,that might be why you think the rear is higher than the tranny plus you dont want your exhaust to point down at the pavment ect ect.