Blazing Saddles

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZGarske01 @ February 12, 2006, 11:36 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
so will this drive shaft that has been cut and balanced be alot stronger than the stock drive shaft? how much of a beating could one of these take
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Some have already broken the stock driveshaft. The JPC car has run mid 10 second runs with this style aluminim driveshaft.

Blazing Saddles

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Redfire 05Gt @ February 13, 2006, 1:25 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Thanks George for clarifying that. It didn't regisiter with me that "eliminating the rear flange" meant using the "A" flange instead of the "B". Sounds like something I'll be adding to my ever growing list. It was shrinking at one point, LOL...
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I'll do a full writeup of what it takes to do this mod. I'm still waiting on parts and it will take me a week or two to get it done.

Blazing Saddles

I checked the order status for the driveshaft at Summit. It wasn't due to ship until 3/23/06 so I canceled that order and went with gefracing.com $209.00 plus $26.00 for shipping. We'll see how long it takes them.

Blazing Saddles

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(don_w @ February 13, 2006, 11:42 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Better yet, get about 10 of them done all at once, mark them up $100 over your cost and sell them to your friends here at TMS? We get a good deal, and you make a cool 1,000 bucks! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/04.gif[/img]

p.s. I'm not kidding.
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But that takes all the fun out of doing it yourself. And besides my wife would go nuts with me making the parts for other people. She would also want all the profits too. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif[/img]

Blazing Saddles

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(max2000jp @ February 14, 2006, 1:54 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Quick question: My friend told me " aluminum driveshafts are know for twisting over time no matter who makes them". Is this true or does my friend not know what he is talking about. Sorry for the newb question.
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I'm sure given enough time and abuse any component in your car will fail. Nothing lasts forever.

Any driveshaft can fail regardless of the material it's made from. How soon the driveshaft will fail depends on how well it's engineered. I've been involved in drag racing for over 35 years now and I would say that 95% of driveshaft failures I've seen were the stock factory shafts. The factory shafts just aren't designed to take the torque and speed of even a moderately modded heavy street/strip car. Mike Bowen posted a pic of his twisted factory shaft while running low 12 second ET's.

There are a lot of factors involved in determining just how strong the drive shaft should be. The weight of the car, gearing, engine torque, driveshaft speed, rotating rearend component weight, and tire and wheel weights are all deciding factors. The higher these factors are the stronger the shaft needs to be. Also the tranny type will be a factor. Stick cars, and auto cars with trans brakes are much harder on a driveshaft than a foot braked auto car.

I have seen a few aluminum driveshafts come apart. These were in high horsepower heavy cars useing 3" and 3 1/2" diameter shafts. I havn't seen a 4" diameter shaft come apart yet. Yet being the key word here. I'm sure eventually I will see one.

Right now I'm at the 370 RWHP mark and I dont plan on excedeing the 450 mark for a while. I don't forsee any problems useing the FRPP shaft at this HP level with a foot braked auto car. So far there are only 2 guarantees in life. Death and taxes. So ultimately it's up to the individual to determine which driveshaft will be best for his or her car.

Blazing Saddles

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(don_w @ February 14, 2006, 1:14 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
The driveshaft wouldn't require a lot of time, except for getting it to and from a shop to shorten/balance it. And you can do 10 in the same time as you can do 1!!
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I'm having a hard enough time finding 1 let alone 10. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/jaw.gif[/img]
My order from Summit had the delivery date changed from 2/17 to 3/23 so I cancelled that order. I went with gefracing.com and hope they can get me one sooner. Getting the parts together and shortening the shaft is nothing compared to the install. The install will be the hard part. Changing the pinion flange on the rearend to a pinion yoke will be the test of mice and men. Tightening the pinion nut just enough without over tightening it will be the hard part. You need to pull the axles out and remove the driveshaft. Then you need to use a beam style inch pound torque wrench to measure just how much force it takes to spin the pinion gear. (This is the bearing preload) Then you remove the pinion flange and put the pinion yoke on tightening the nut a little at a time checking it with the torque wrench until you reach the original reading to plus 5 inch pounds. If you don't tighten this enough one of two things will happen 1 you'll get a whine or 2 you'll get vibration. And if you tighten the nut too much the crush sleeve is toast. You'll need to pull the carrier out and remove the pinion gear and replace the crush sleeve. For most people the best option will be to buy the bolt in shaft from Powerhouse411 or JPC. But for those that have the guts, knowledge, and tools to do this I'll post the instructions. I'm doing mine this way to save about 4 lbs of weight. This way I don't need the rear bolt on flange on the driveshaft or the adapter plate. With an auto tranny I need every bit of weight savings I can get to keep up with those stick cars. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img]