Aluminum Drive Shaft result, and question.
03-08-2009, 03:53 PM
#1
6th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: colorado
Posts: 6,395
Aluminum Drive Shaft result, and question.
Well just got back from the test drive.
here are some numbers first.
Aluminum driveshaft was 14.5lbs
Stock AOD driveshaft was 23.5lbs
thats a weight difference of 9lbs!!
i thought it was going to be more like 5lb's!
thats pretty damn good weight loss.
anyway, heres my views.
I bought the aluminum driveshaft mainly because I was trying to get rid of the vibration i had at 65mph and higher. at 75mph it felt like something was going to fall off the car it would vibrate and grind so much.
That is what i wanted fixed, and YES the aluminum driveshaft has stoped ALL vibration at 60-90mph. (as fast as i went on the test drive.)
the car is MUCH smoother as far as driveline vibration, BUT i still have a vibration at and above 4,000rpm..... i do not know whats causing this, my only guess is the engine mount as the transmission is new, tran's mount is fine, i checked that before buying the driveshaft. new driveshaft, rearend rebuilt a year ago, new gears in the rear end, ETC.
i hate the fact that it vibrates badly at high RPM's because thats going to make be back out of the throttle, or shift early because of it.
it does feel like the vibration is coming from the front of the car also.
as far as a improvement/acceleration of power because of the driveshaft....
i felt nothing of the sort, given im still getting use to the increased power from swapping to a 5speed from a dying automatic, so i cant be real sure if i gained anything from the driveshaft, but the only real difference i felt was that the car has less drive train vibration.
another odd thing is that 3gear always whined a little scene i installed the new transmission.
It seems with the new driveshaft that 3rd whines louder, and a little more high pitched, and 5th gear that was quiet before, now has a very faint whine to it...... dunno what this could be from other then maybe the aluminum is making the noise more noticeable?
n-e-who, thats my thoughts, i think the $270 i payed from SummitRacing was worth it, as now i can drive on the highway without fear of the vibration or hurting my car because of it.
a loss of 9-10lb's isent bad at all either!
here are some before and after pictures.
look how worn it is from vibrating so bad.
here are some numbers first.
Aluminum driveshaft was 14.5lbs
Stock AOD driveshaft was 23.5lbs
thats a weight difference of 9lbs!!
i thought it was going to be more like 5lb's!
thats pretty damn good weight loss.
anyway, heres my views.
I bought the aluminum driveshaft mainly because I was trying to get rid of the vibration i had at 65mph and higher. at 75mph it felt like something was going to fall off the car it would vibrate and grind so much.
That is what i wanted fixed, and YES the aluminum driveshaft has stoped ALL vibration at 60-90mph. (as fast as i went on the test drive.)
the car is MUCH smoother as far as driveline vibration, BUT i still have a vibration at and above 4,000rpm..... i do not know whats causing this, my only guess is the engine mount as the transmission is new, tran's mount is fine, i checked that before buying the driveshaft. new driveshaft, rearend rebuilt a year ago, new gears in the rear end, ETC.
i hate the fact that it vibrates badly at high RPM's because thats going to make be back out of the throttle, or shift early because of it.
it does feel like the vibration is coming from the front of the car also.
as far as a improvement/acceleration of power because of the driveshaft....
i felt nothing of the sort, given im still getting use to the increased power from swapping to a 5speed from a dying automatic, so i cant be real sure if i gained anything from the driveshaft, but the only real difference i felt was that the car has less drive train vibration.
another odd thing is that 3gear always whined a little scene i installed the new transmission.
It seems with the new driveshaft that 3rd whines louder, and a little more high pitched, and 5th gear that was quiet before, now has a very faint whine to it...... dunno what this could be from other then maybe the aluminum is making the noise more noticeable?
n-e-who, thats my thoughts, i think the $270 i payed from SummitRacing was worth it, as now i can drive on the highway without fear of the vibration or hurting my car because of it.
a loss of 9-10lb's isent bad at all either!
here are some before and after pictures.
look how worn it is from vibrating so bad.
03-08-2009, 09:16 PM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 220
http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/ite...asp?T1=ST68+01
This is the spacer he is talking about. Im not sure if you actually need one though since its a direct replacement. I needed to get one when i switched from a t-5 to a tko-600.
This is the spacer he is talking about. Im not sure if you actually need one though since its a direct replacement. I needed to get one when i switched from a t-5 to a tko-600.
03-09-2009, 03:26 AM
#9
6th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: colorado
Posts: 6,395
Right before i came into work tonight i put the car in neutral, and reved it very slowly through the RPM's.
Starting at 3700RPM it starts vibrating, its coming from the front of the car.
I belive its the hermonic balencer, as the front of the oil pan has leaked sence i bought the car over a year ago.
im unsure of how to check the balencer, which one to buy, or how to swap them out :/
This Aluminum driveshaft is sapposed to be a direct bolt in for the T5, but i agree i would like it to sit into the tran's a little farther.....
what could this effect leaving it like it is?
03-09-2009, 04:23 AM
#10
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SC
Posts: 665
ford racing stock 50 oz balancer is like 70 beans .. to check it just do a visual inspection .. check that the rubber is not cracked or coming apart or sticking out of the balancer .. then with the car running take a good look at it .. if you notice any wobble as its spinning then its bad or going bad ..to replace it you may need an impact gun and pulley puller .. fairly easy swap with those tools basically a bolt on part .