ohnoesaz

The stock shaft is 2 piece and heavy in order to dampen vibrations from the tranny, which also has vibration from the engine. Its safe to say the weight and the 2 piece design was intentional, because so many stock cars have lightweight 1 piece driveshafts (Including the Ford Ranger which is where the spydershaft originates from). Engine and tranny internals are brutal are themselves and its important that they have a place to exert their engery to.

Now I'm not saying our trannies will tear apart inside if you put a 1 piece shaft on... Nor am I saying your crankcase will tear into pieces if you put underdrive pullies on.... But I am saying that the weight and the 2 piece design is there for a reason.

Now, that being said, I do truly believe Ford designed this Mustang for the mass regular people, not the enthusiast, and I'm sure a lot of their design was based on the need for ride comfort so the driver does not feel the engine or tranny.

All in all I think its safe to use an aftermarket shaft, though I am skeptical of life after perhaps 100K miles.

8178A

Could you please clarify this? Are you saying the DS changed your gearing?

ohnoesaz

Im saying it lowered the NEEDED rpms for an equivalent speed compared to before. Its easier to understand with an exaggerated example.. Picture your car weighing 3700lbs or so, and you can drive at 40mph in 3rd gear at 2000rpms. Now lets say you shaved weight off of our car and now it weighs only 1000lbs. You can now drive 40mph in 3rd gear at about 900rpms (which would dog the engine but hey you get the point). Less weight, especially in the driveline, requires less power to move, and therefore lower rpms for a specific speed that you're comparing before to.

8178A

Thanks, I thought you meant that.

TacoBill

Thanks for the 12pt socket tip.

I will be installing a Coast Driveline 4" aluminum DS and a BMR front safety loop (hopefully) next Friday. Full write-up w/pics will follow. [8D]

Joolander

Just curious, what made you go with that one instead of the Spydershaft, TB?

I have no idea what the merits of each are, though I assume they're both lighter

ohnoesaz

I'll tell ya what, an advantage to the spydershaft is it has a brand new pinion flange as opposed to an adapter plate. This is good in general.

But... its not good for the installer!! It was my biggest issue. The whole install would've taken 2 hours if I couldve just kept the pinion flange and installed an adapter. I believe the coastline uses an adapter?

Anyways, any light shaft will be better, but the spyder was cheapest and that tends to be what gets me every time...

TacoBill

Yes, the Coast uses an adapter for the pinion flange.

I got a pretty good deal from Tillman on the Coast and BMR.

You really can't go wrong with either DS.And, like Joe mentioned, his install would've been slashed if he opted for a DS that utilized an adapter.

I really don't want to start a debate over brand A vs B (or C, D,or E for that matter) in this thread, but I think we can all agree that whatever DS company we go with, it's better than the stock 2-piece.

ohnoesaz

Amen to that! Any choice is a good choice... (But I cant deny that the trouble with installing the new flange and the wondering now of if there will be a leak or not sort of makes me wish I bought a different type that just uses an adapter plate!)

Dont be swayed away from the Spyder if thats the vibe Im giving. Its awesome! Im just saying be careful on undertaking installing the flange yourself.... I honestly think I had 20X more problems with it than a person normally would - but your luckmay or maynot be better!

Vcoat

No complaints with my Spyder....smoothed out my ride as well...