What DriveShaft to get?
03-16-2007, 02:13 PM
#1
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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Posts: 497
What DriveShaft to get?
I was looking into getting a new driveshaft but was not sure what one to get.. I am getting a supercharger soon and some suspension. will the suspension come in the way of the new driveshaft.. Let me know what would be a good one to get thanks.
03-16-2007, 02:50 PM
#2
RE: What DriveShaft to get?
Many of us got on the dennys group buy about a month ago.
http://www.pmpparts.com/index.php?ma...roducts_id=197
moosestang has it installed. It depends on how much you are wanting to spend also. Some go up to over 1000.
http://www.pmpparts.com/index.php?ma...roducts_id=197
moosestang has it installed. It depends on how much you are wanting to spend also. Some go up to over 1000.
03-16-2007, 03:13 PM
#3
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Posts: 2,544
RE: What DriveShaft to get?
There's basically four options in my mind:
1) The Spyder conversion. You can do a forum search for "Spyder" and "driveshaft" and you can read all about this. Basically, you buy a Ford driveshaft from a Ranger pickup, then you have it shortened locally, and buy some other small parts to convert it over to fit the stang:
Pros: Inexpensive & very lightweight
Cons: It can be difficult to find a shop to modify an aluminum shaft (most work on Steel only). Also, you have to change out the pinion yoke, which isextra work and must be carefully done to avoid gear/bearing problems in the future.
2) A commercial aluminum driveshaft, such as the Powerhouse.
Pros: Very lightweight, and a very simple drop-in install.
Cons: Can cost about $650
3) A commerical steel driveshaft, such as the Denny's
Pros: Least expensive off-the-shelf option (cheaper than aluminum). Easy installation.
Cons: Not as light as the aluminum shafts
4) Carbon Fiber shaft, such as that from BMR:
Pros: Very safe if it were to break. Can handle an insane amount of HP. Dampens driveline vibrations somewhat.
Cons: Not as light as the aluminum shafts. Very expensive.
1) The Spyder conversion. You can do a forum search for "Spyder" and "driveshaft" and you can read all about this. Basically, you buy a Ford driveshaft from a Ranger pickup, then you have it shortened locally, and buy some other small parts to convert it over to fit the stang:
Pros: Inexpensive & very lightweight
Cons: It can be difficult to find a shop to modify an aluminum shaft (most work on Steel only). Also, you have to change out the pinion yoke, which isextra work and must be carefully done to avoid gear/bearing problems in the future.
2) A commercial aluminum driveshaft, such as the Powerhouse.
Pros: Very lightweight, and a very simple drop-in install.
Cons: Can cost about $650
3) A commerical steel driveshaft, such as the Denny's
Pros: Least expensive off-the-shelf option (cheaper than aluminum). Easy installation.
Cons: Not as light as the aluminum shafts
4) Carbon Fiber shaft, such as that from BMR:
Pros: Very safe if it were to break. Can handle an insane amount of HP. Dampens driveline vibrations somewhat.
Cons: Not as light as the aluminum shafts. Very expensive.
03-16-2007, 06:04 PM
#5
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Join Date: Mar 2006
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Posts: 2,544
RE: What DriveShaft to get?
Which driveshaft are you asking about?
As a quick note, this question is one that I find irritating as a mechanical engineer. Horsepower does not break driveshafts. TORQUE breaks driveshafts--specifically shock loading.
For example, I have seen "company A" rate their driveshaft up to 500 HP. Well let's do some math. HP = Torque * (RPM / 5252). So, if this driveshaft were spinning at 1 RPM and we had 500HP going through it, that would be over 2.6 million ft-lb of torque. Do you think that a car driveshaft could handle that? Heck no....but they say their driveshaft can handle 500 HP.....
A1-ton diesel truck makes about 300 HP and 600 ft-lb these days. That couldEASILY send 2000 ft-lb into a driveshaft(first gear in an auto trans). A tricked-out Honda making 300 HP at 10,000 RPM in 5th gearwould be sendingless than 1/10th of that into the driveshaft. They're both "300 HP" but the actual loading on the driveshaft is very different.
What about comparing a 500 HP road race car that would spin it's tires well before realizing it's maximum HP? Or a drag racer with slicks that grabs hard off the line? Remember my above example about the diesel truck? Well, the U-joints used in those trucks are rated at around 1000 ft-lb. So why don't they break constantly? Because the tires slip well before that much torque would ever be applied.
Anyway, my point is that HP ratings for driveshafts are a little silly becasue the HP doesn't really matter. Driveshafts rarely break. When they do it's when people run slicks on the car at the drag strip using a very high powered engineand dump the clutch. Drag racing with slicks is MUCH harder on the driveline than slapping a supercharger on the car.
If you want a meaningful rating of the driveshaft's capacity, find out what size U-joints the driveshaft uses and then look up the torque capacity of the U-joint. That rating is acutally useful. Though for a street-driven car you don't really have to worry about this. On street tires there is really no way you could ever load the driveshaft enough to break it. Even if you were making 1000 HP or more, your tires would spin well before you could break a driveshaft.
As a quick note, this question is one that I find irritating as a mechanical engineer. Horsepower does not break driveshafts. TORQUE breaks driveshafts--specifically shock loading.
For example, I have seen "company A" rate their driveshaft up to 500 HP. Well let's do some math. HP = Torque * (RPM / 5252). So, if this driveshaft were spinning at 1 RPM and we had 500HP going through it, that would be over 2.6 million ft-lb of torque. Do you think that a car driveshaft could handle that? Heck no....but they say their driveshaft can handle 500 HP.....
A1-ton diesel truck makes about 300 HP and 600 ft-lb these days. That couldEASILY send 2000 ft-lb into a driveshaft(first gear in an auto trans). A tricked-out Honda making 300 HP at 10,000 RPM in 5th gearwould be sendingless than 1/10th of that into the driveshaft. They're both "300 HP" but the actual loading on the driveshaft is very different.
What about comparing a 500 HP road race car that would spin it's tires well before realizing it's maximum HP? Or a drag racer with slicks that grabs hard off the line? Remember my above example about the diesel truck? Well, the U-joints used in those trucks are rated at around 1000 ft-lb. So why don't they break constantly? Because the tires slip well before that much torque would ever be applied.
Anyway, my point is that HP ratings for driveshafts are a little silly becasue the HP doesn't really matter. Driveshafts rarely break. When they do it's when people run slicks on the car at the drag strip using a very high powered engineand dump the clutch. Drag racing with slicks is MUCH harder on the driveline than slapping a supercharger on the car.
If you want a meaningful rating of the driveshaft's capacity, find out what size U-joints the driveshaft uses and then look up the torque capacity of the U-joint. That rating is acutally useful. Though for a street-driven car you don't really have to worry about this. On street tires there is really no way you could ever load the driveshaft enough to break it. Even if you were making 1000 HP or more, your tires would spin well before you could break a driveshaft.
