mazda83

wuts up guys!!! i came across a guy selling an 83-85 aluminum driveshaft for 30 bucks... i wanted to know if it's worth it for the mean time untill i get the original one rebuilt with the replacible joints.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Since all the stock ones are steel tube and the aluminum is a pricey custom job, buy it and forget about rebuilding yours'. It's probably worth 100 bucks to a racer/SCCA owner.

foothill

Give him $20 and you got an awesome part for nothing.

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

give him 20 and i'll buy it from you for 50 shipped. make yourself some money.

mazda83

thanks guys for the info...time to take it off that guys hands

Clemens88

Never heard of aluminum drive shafts, you can make a lighter steel driveshaft by hardening them. Anyone know material/ estimate on the dimensions of these things? Just wondering.

Clemens88

O ok I see. They use hardened steel on the splines and then use a u-joint to conect to a larger diameter aluminum shaft. Alot of flex though 15 degrees compared to 7 degrees steel.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Flex? Just where is this additional flex? Not in the shaft tube if it's correctly sized. An aluminum shaft should perform the same as a steel one, with less rotating mass.

Clemens88

I guess I shouldn't say flex, I mean twist. I'm talking torsionally. Aluminum is very ductile and can twist alot more then steel and take the same torque. While Steel on the other hand is extremly rigid and brittle in most cases. The additional degrees of twisting happens on the aluminum axles. I'm just questioning this stuff because I design alot of these components for Formula SAE. I've never seen anyone ever waste time on an aluminum axle might be a unique thing to try. And your right they will perform the same depending on how they're designed. If they're lighter they reduce the rotating mass, but I'd really like to see a number on the weight difference.

Mark S

iTrader: (1)

Aluminum driveshafts actually are OEM on some cars... C4 Corvette comes to mind...

ronbros3

even lighter D-shaft is carbon fiber!! Thx Ron

Clemens88

Yah I was probably wrong that you can make a lighter steal driveshaft. Since, I have seen carbon fiber Driveshafts, but I've also seen them shatter. Not fun when everything around it is .035 steel tubs.

Starfox07

Well my old mustang had an al. driveshaft and the diameter was probably 10-15% larger than the factory steel one, but it was still much lighter. Maybe making it larger helps? I'm no engineer though.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/d...2-p-55699.html

Considering the low price, check it carefully; may be a reason it's so cheap.

Yup; the Z's got one.

mazda83

yea i'll check it out first but waht are some key points to look at?

djessence

straightness, cracks