jassem

what doyou guys think of a carbon fiber shaft drive? i found one on the internet for around $1k. it's said to handle upto 1000HP where the stock shaft is rated between 450-500HP. i think its kinda cool cuz it also drops alot of the stock shaft weight.

Herknav

save yourself some money and get an aluminum one...

Twister

carbon fiber has the tendency of coming apart if there is a vibration, even really expensive stuff. McLearn Formula 1 has had 2 failures of carbon fiber suspensionn parts in less than a year, this is a team that spends over $300,000,000.00 (yes, that is not too many zero's), so you know that they are buying the best. Learning from other peoples mistakes tells me not to use carbon fiber where there is going to be strong vibrations, like a drive shaft.

FredTT

A carbon fiber shaft is good for a drag car that is towed around and only driven up and down the drag strip. There is no point in getting one in a daily driver, as it will just unravel. Save your self the headache and get a aluminum one. They are MUCH cheaper (getting mine for $300)

~Fred

Wally39

The aluminum shaft is lighter than the carbon fiber shaft.

WildRed

hey fredtt where are you getting one for 300, id like to ck that out. id really like one but most ive looked at are 700+. thanks

hawgman

He is most likely doing the Ford Ranger conversion route.

FredTT

Yup. My mechanic is getting it for me. He says that they work with a company that does this kind of stuff. Its a conversion (not sure if its from a ranger). It is supposed to hold up to 900 rwhp (my target is 800) so we will see.

~Fred

Herknav

Sounds like the Ranger conversion...

chevykiller

It is the ranger conversion and it has been successful for many guys. Ron (spyder) was one of the first I know to do it last year. The carbon fiber shaft is a JOKE pure and simple. It's a show queen mod. The whole point to doing your driveshaft is to cut down on rotational mass weight and the c/f is heavier than the aluminum so there is no point. As far as strength, I pretty much garuntee you that no one will be turning enough HP to require one. We have aluminum driveshafts on all our hot rods and most of them make over 1000 hp. The 55 chevy makes 1860 hp with an old whipple screw blower @22 psi and has never had a problem with the aluminum driveshaft. Here's a couple pics if interested:

http://homepage.mac.com/chevykiller/PhotoAlbum5.html