Wait for Carbon Fiber Driveshaft or buy Aluminum now?

I've been waiting for Precision Shaft Technologies in Florida to release their revised Carbon Fiber driveshaft for GT-500's before I buy. Apparently the first run still had some minor issues to improve upon. Sounds like it'll be another month or more before they have it available.

Question is:

Is a Carbon Fiber driveshaft worth the wait (and price difference ~ $300) or should I go ahead and buy a readily available EVO/Dynotech aluminum driveshaft?

Car sees 90% street use with occasional 1/4 mile test n tuning.

Gt500 Driveshaft

I was told by DENNEY`S DRIVESHAFT COMPANY 1-716-875-6640 that all of the after market driveshafts for the shelby are using a ford ranger pickup front coupler on their driveshafts.They are making a custom H-D coupler for our shelby,so make your own mind up.

no point, go aluminum, 3.5" to 4"

Go with the carbon fiber one, it's like 10x safer and probably twice as strong as the aluminum one... besides, I'm in florida and I want to get one too and want to know how it drives.

From many racers, I have heard that you do not want a cf one.

Think of it this way, what happens if you nick it? an aluminum one will just ding rather than shatter or spliter like a cf one.

Im going on what majority of the racers have said, steel is your best bet if you are really hard core.

Evo runs 9 with a 3.5" Al, do you plan on running faster? If not, why be different when you could go with the tried and true.

But hey, let us know how you like it

After Market Driveshaft

CHUCKSTANG,I think you need to know some facts.A 3.50 OR 4.00INCH aluminum will work fine but not with a ford v6 ranger pickup coupler stuck on the trans end of driveshaft on a650HP shelby.If you want to talk to a driveshaft expert call mr. denny and he will not BS you.

Aluminum.

For something as important safety wise as a driveshaft I would trust it against the elements long before I would trust C/F.

Elements being exhaust heat, rain, cold weather, snow, road debris, and possibly bottoming out on something, etc. Also if it were to break would it just break into two halfs or will it shatter and throw shrapnal everywhere? IDK, but I prefer the concept of an aluminum driftshaft to C/F one though.

My friend has run a CF driveshaft for over 5 years now in his vehicle, it's still 100% in tact without any problems. It's really not as fragile as people say they are, little highway rocks will not break it and my friend's cf driveshaft dropped twice when going over speed bumps (error on his part), and it's still running 100%. You guys make it seem like it's made out of paper mache or something.

Ok. If I go ahead and buy aluminum...which one do I buy?

DSS
Evolutions (who makes it?)
Dynotech

I've heard the one-piece shafts need both an internal and external dampner to be 100% vibration free. Which of the above have these issues fully resolved?

Aluminum Driveshaft

Evolution And Dynotech Are The Same

davidhuff said:

I was told by DENNEY`S DRIVESHAFT COMPANY 1-716-875-6640 that all of the after market driveshafts for the shelby are using a ford ranger pickup front coupler on their driveshafts.They are making a custom H-D coupler for our shelby,so make your own mind up.

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David,

The DSS Aluminum shaft isn't using any Ford Ranger parts. The parts are made by DSS specifically for the DSS Aluminum driveshaft.


Hope that helps. Jared

Dss Driveshaft

THANKS JARED,This information clears a lot of things up.Looks to be a great driveshaft with those changes.

I have heard the CF results is it being gentler on the drivetrain, as the CF has a bit of flex to it. So the 03 cobra's clunk can be eliminate by the CF one as it absorbs the vibration. Also, I think the CF driveshaft is a tad lighter, if that matters any. In either case, I don't think you'd notice too big of a difference.

As far as safety goes, something that would shatter seems safer to me than something that would snap in half. Have you ever seen what happens to a car that breaks a DS mid run? The back half of the DS can stick in the ground, and pole vault the car. Thats why you need a DS loop for really fast cars.

davidhuff said:

CHUCKSTANG,I think you need to know some facts.A 3.50 OR 4.00INCH aluminum will work fine but not with a ford v6 ranger pickup coupler stuck on the trans end of driveshaft on a650HP shelby.If you want to talk to a driveshaft expert call mr. denny and he will not BS you.

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Yup, I realize that. Thanks

Lethal Performance is selling the one you speak of I believe.

Id rather not buy something like this that is new to the market, Id rather buy one that has been tried and worked, hence a dyno tech 3.5, I believe that is the one Evo runs. But I think you are saying it has a junk coupler?

Aluminum Driveshaft

Call MR.DENNEY AT 1-716-875-6640 at DENNEY/S DRIVESHAFTand he will give you some great information on buying a after market drive shaft.He told me the stock drive shaft has a 1350 u-joint and the after market shaft has a 1330 u-joint and I do not know why.The new DSS driveshaft will be tested by JARED.

Does anyone on the board have a Carbon Fiber driveshaft in their GT-500? If so, where did you buy it from, who manufacturers it, and how much? Any issues?

Why are you guys upgrading your driveshaft? Are the stock ones breaking or do you just want some cheap insurance?

94-98 Trans Am said:

Why are you guys upgrading your driveshaft? Are the stock ones breaking or do you just want some cheap insurance?

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They won't handle 650+ flywheel HP with any hookup at all. I'm on my 2nd stocker. I have the Evolution-spec 3.5" aluminum sitting in my family room waiting for a warmer day.

bj

PST makes excellent Carbon Fiber shafts from what I have heard/read.

Would love to see how their Shelby unit turns out. One of their driveshafts is on my to-do list for the 03.

FLYVNE04 said:

They won't handle 650+ flywheel HP with any hookup at all. I'm on my 2nd stocker. I have the Evolution-spec 3.5" aluminum sitting in my family room waiting for a warmer day.

bj

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So does that mean a 2.6, JLT/tune combo is too much for the stock shaft?
Thats about 550rwhp