Brandons98GT

I am thinking of getting an aluminum drive shaft for my 98gt and was wondering if there were any downfalls associated with them. Thanks

SOHCtimes2

No downfalls...can I ask why you are getting it? Is your car heavily modded and making lots of power and running slicks to make you scared that your stocker will break?

Brandons98GT

No but they are not expensive and it will be lighter than stock.

s4697

due too newtons law since it is lighter u might use a little more gas, more effort to keep rotating. it might gain u 1-2 rwhp i'd take the money and save up for other stuff first

SOHCtimes2

Its definately money better spent in other areas, such as a PI swap.

s4697

+1 PI FTW!!!! if u have the money or...wait untill u have to money because nothing u do now make a difference untill u do the pi swap

wisk

Don't worry with an aluminum shaft until you've run out of places to put money, which will be a while. Aluminum has more tensile strength though i think? Either way, we build em at my dad's shop. We've built a small (maybe foot long) one for a guy with a rail dragster. They hold up pretty good. He's been back twice on his though. First time he had run it for atleast a year or more and noticed a small hair line crack in the weld. And then the second time it started cracking again. We put the weld to it again and he hasn't been back yet. Like I said they're worth it when you're puttin down the horses and have nowhere else to put money into.

wisk

Don't forget about your lighter rotating mass too if thats something that interests you.

phalcrow

Actually due to the law of conservation of angular momentum and rotational inertia, the amount of energy that you put into the driveshaft's rotation is the same amount that you will need to put into it to slow it down. It doesn't mater how heavy or massive the driveshaft is, the only thing that is slowing it down would be internal friction of the system and the vehicle's momentum. Truly, a heavier driveshaft would decrease gas mileage becuase of its higher moment of inertia, it would take more energy to give it angular momentum and you would only benefit from it if you never used your brakes. The lighter driveshaft would require less energy to get it rotating at the same speed, however, both driveshafts would experience the same amount of resistance from the vehicle. Either way, the differences are minimal and most like unmeasureable so in my opinion an aluminum driveshaft would be a waste of money.

04gt5speed

i never heard anything bad about frpp alumin driveshaft's was thinking about getting 1 very soon myself