[McCoy]

I found a good deal on a new aluminum DSS drive shaft a few months back. I thought about going with steel, but the price difference between a new steel one-piece DSS drive shaft shipped and the deal I got on the aluminum one made it worth the extra few coins to get the AL one.

The 240 had a vibration between 55-75mph in 5th gear and with no real driveline shops within 1 hour of me and the ones I did find had the same work hours as I did. I decided that fixing the current driveshaft wasn't worth the hassle.

Pulled the old (heavy) driveshaft out. The diff side is held by 4 bolt/nuts combo and the front the driveshaft just slides into the tranny. Do be warned that when you pull the driveshaft out of the tranny... fluid does follow :squint:

Reversed the steps for the nice and light AL one .

The only item that I was a little concerned about was the amount of shaft hanging out of the tranny side... I did a quick search on FA.com and it seems that this is normal, one inch roughly of the shaft is showing.

I won't be able to see if the vibration is gone till later this weekend. The car will stay on jackstands until I get the JWT S3 cams in, the HKS exhaust installed, and an idle problem resolved.

 

[Rittmeister]

Pretty cool. I've been very happy with my steel one.

 

[coach]

That is NICE McCoy! My Titan has an aluminum drive shaft stock and I think it is about 5" in diameter, but it weighs NOTHING! Very nice and smooth, no driveline vibrations at any RPM, even when towing with a load.

Brent

 

[McCoy]

Thanks guys... I really can't wait to test this out... I'm getting tired of the vibrations when doing my drives to/from the track.

Brent, this aluminum shaft is 4" in diameter, but as you said stupid light

 

[reverend_sean]

So what did you pay for it+shipping? if you don't mind me asking?

 

[McCoy]

So what did you pay for it+shipping? if you don't mind me asking?

I paid $400 shipped... most places were selling them for about $460 or more shipped. A DSS steel driveshaft runs about $350 shipped on average, so the extra $50 was worth it to me

 

[McCoy]

First drive update:

I took the car out Saturday night to bed in the new front pads, test out the Z32 rear brakes and to see how the driveshaft felt.

The car drove forwards and backwards, so that was a plus! The first thing I noticed is the lack of clunking from what I thought was the rear diff. Usually if I rev the car up to 1.5 to 2K and slip the clutch a little to fast, I would get alot of clunking from somewhere in the drivetrain... the test drive was short, so I'll test this more during the week. The major vibration that I noticed between 55-75 is not there... there is still light vibration, but this could be from motor mounts that are worn or something else.

Performance wise... as I though I couldn't really tell a difference. I guess I'll just go with the peace of mind that I lost 13+ lbs from my driveshaft

 

[SoSideways]

Car should rev up more freely due to the reduced inertia...

 

[McCoy]

Car should rev up more freely due to the reduced inertia...

I knew I forgot to add something... I replaced the stock exhaust with a HKS exhaust at the same time as the driveshaft install. The car does feel like it can rev better, but it might be more due to the more open exhaust than the driveshaft.

 

[GoinSleeper]

damn so an aluminum driveshaft with lightweight pulleys and lightweight flywheel should allow for some really nice reving!

 

[McCoy]

damn so an aluminum driveshaft with lightweight pulleys and lightweight flywheel should allow for some really nice reving!

well, I've already got a 8.5lb flywheel (thanks steve), but am opting out of using lightened pullies due to the loss of the dampener built into the stock crank pulley. Once I get the T25 or T28 on, well see how fast it rev's :biggthump

 

[GoinSleeper]

so i take it youre not running ac?

 

[McCoy]

so i take it youre not running ac?

It's there, but will be gone shortly... that's extra weight I don't need

No real need for AC where I'm at... there's maybe 10 days you might need it in the year.

 

[Shift_Munky]

so i take it youre not running ac?

Are you asking because the stock crank pulley has the "damper" part built in to accomodate the A/C compressor loading up? If yes, you are correct, sir. One could theoretically use the stock crank pulley, machine off the other pulleys, and have a lightened version. I thought about doing this on a junk one sometime to see how much weight I could shave off, but I simply don't have the time.

I need to retire or something. :biggthump

 

[GoinSleeper]

i know how that goes....

 

[McCoy]

I really wish I was driving the car today to give a better update on the driveshaft .

Still in the garage with the upper IM half way off, damn those 4 studs!!!

 

[SoSideways]

I hear you.

My car's up on jackstands cause of this stupid jackassery:

 

[McCoy]

Easy... big pair of vise-grips and a new bleeder and your on the road again

 

[Shift_Munky]

I really wish I was driving the car today to give a better update on the driveshaft .

Still in the garage with the upper IM half way off, damn those 4 studs!!!

I assume you mean intake manifold? Yeah, I had a helluva time getting my upper IM half off because the two sets of studs point *somewhat* toward one another.

I have a Ted Teten aluminum driveshaft, but cannot offer any driving impressions because the car never ran with the old shaft.

DSS is good people though, I've been there a coupla times dropping off and picking up my halfshafts.

-Andy

 

[SoSideways]

Easy... big pair of vise-grips and a new bleeder and your on the road again

Guess why they're so rounded and shiney right now?

Cause the vice grips that I got won't bite down hard enough to loosen that screw... :thumbsdown:

I went to Sears and bought some bolt-out sockets though, so we'll see.