How to make your own aluminum or carbon driveshaft
 

So I just pieced together my own carbon fiber driveshaft from a universal CF driveshaft and rx7 type pinion yokes so I thought I'd share how to do it...

This is more or less exactly what mazdatrix does to make their aluminum driveshafts.

You need 4 things:
1) A driveshaft that is the right length and u-joint type
2) front slip yoke (slips into transmission)
3) rear flange yoke (bolts to diff)
4) u-joints

1. the drive shaft:

This part is pretty simple, you need a aluminum driveshaft with either 7260 u-joints (not very common) or the much more common 1310 u-joints. (more on this latter)

It needs to be the right length. Driveshaft lengths are measured from u-joint center to u-joint center so use the L2 length from this graphic:
Attachment 627132

for the diameter, 3" is probably going to be fine for most people. that's what the mazdatrix shaft is.

I built mine with a quartermaster carbon driveshaft:
Carbon Fiber 1310 Driveshafts
http://www.quartermasterusa.com/qm/c...riveshafthtml/

but there are tons of other options:
Precision Shaft Technologies
Dennys Driveshafts > 1310 Series 3 inch Aluminum Driveshaft up to 52 inch CL
Carbon Fiber Driveshafts | QA1 Drive Shaft
Custom Aluminum & Composite Driveshaft - Driveshaft Shop | Dynotech Engineering Services

you get the idea...

2) Front slip yoke

PTI is the only company that makes them. They all take a 7260 u-joint. These are the same yokes mazdatrix uses.

www.powertrainindustries.com

Turbo2 trans: 2603-25
NA trans: 2603-22

3) rear flange yoke

PTI is the only company that makes them. They all take a 7260 u-joint. These are the same yokes mazdatrix uses.

www.powertrainindustries.com

turbo2 rear: 2602-41
NA rear: 2602-37

4) U joints.

This is where it gets tricky.

If you have a 7260 driveshaft, just buy a 7260 u-joint (easy, but un-likely)

If you have a 1310 driveshaft you need to get a conversion joint.

usually everyone in the world would recommend a Spicer joint... but

IMPORTANT: The spicer 5-788x 1310->7260 joint doesn't fit in PTI 7260 yokes:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D..._222041106.jpg

you have 2 options here.
- have PTI custom clearance your yokes (they will do this)
- get any other u-joint

up to you.

I used a Neapco 2-3100:
NEAPCO 2-3100 Dodge 7260 series Mopar to 1310 series combination universal joint.

next up, assembly

Assembly:

There are tons of youtube videos on how to assemble u-joints so I'm not going to go over this in a lot of detail.... but here are the basics.

First you'll want to press out the u-joints that came with your driveshaft (probably 1310s)

take the side clips out:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P..._211710298.jpg

and use a press (ideal), a vise, or a socket and hammer (least ideal) to push the u-joints over to one side and take the cap off:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2..._222000422.jpg

then you press it over to the other side to take the other cap out and then you can remove the cross of the u-joint.

assembly is the reverse of removal :gwink:

press the u-joint into the yoke:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g..._204606831.jpg

the 7260 u-joints have the clips on the inside:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-v..._204826025.jpg

then you do it again with the driveshaft:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h..._210946924.jpg

1310 clips (driveshaft side) are going to be on the outside:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4..._211928359.jpg

do it again on the other side and you're done!

complete driveshaft:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s..._211920611.jpg

This carbon driveshaft is 9.3 lbs
- 4.7 lbs lighter than the stock TII driveshaft
- 1.5 lbs lighter than mazdatrix's aluminum shaft


note: if you're confused by some of my pictures, my rear flange is actually a 1310 rear flange because it's getting bolted to a Ford 8.8

Special Ronin Ford swap section:

I actually built this driveshaft to be a bit longer than the stock one to reach my Ronin Ford 8.8 conversion:
FC Ford 8.8 IRS Mounting Kit

Everything is the same except I used a spicer ford small pattern flange yoke (2-2-939) instead of the mazda rear flange yoke to go with the smaller mustang flange required on the 8.8 diff
Dana Spicer 2-2-939 Mustang Driveshaft Flange Yoke fits 7.5 and 8.8 inch Rear Ends 1310 Series with small Ford bolt pattern

and of course the rear u-joint is just a normal 1310 joint.

Awesome thread and great info. Thanks for sharing.

Really? I would have never guessed it.

Awesome! I'm curious how much everything costed, parts, assembley and balancing

Fantastic write up. Though, for aluminum driveshafts, it seems as though it's more cost effective to just buy the Mazdatrix unit. Bookmarked for the (probably really distant) future for when it's carbon shaft time!

not necessarily

front yoke: $43
rear flange: $39
driveshaft: $289, and it appears you can request 7260 hybrid joints?

so $371 total compared to mazdatrix's $432

Cool! Great research and find. Thanks for sharing and will def think about this if I ever come around to a driveshaft upgrade

I didn't see any info on balancing for the carbon driveshaft you got. I guess they would come balanced if the aluminum shaft comes pre balanced

Wow. Amazing work there sir!

Badass!

The info is very valuable but the best part is that your car really does deserve a driveshaft like this.

Im waiting for him to use it low mileage and lowball him when he posts in the used parts section. In the meantime im going to epoxy a carbon fiber tube over my oem unit

Post of the year so far.

Hmmmm interesting.

UPDATE:

I had Powertrain industries clearance my transmission yoke for a Spicer lifetime u-joint (no grease fitting)

Spicer lifetime 7260 -> 1310 conversion joint: 5-788X

At the same time I ordered a Spicer lifetime coated u-joint for aluminum driveshafts yokes: 5-3613X

I took 2 of the caps off the coated u-joint to swap them onto the 1310->7260 conversion u-joint so I would have coated caps on both u-joints that go into the driveshaft (the aluminum parts)

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...594286ca00.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0c1344a63b.jpg


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...10f2a14461.jpg


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...81e5de04e9.jpg

So did you sell the original carbon fiber shaft to GrossPolluter for about $23 shipped (via Greyhound to save $$)?

Same driveshaft... just replaced the u-joints