AeroStar Drive Shaft Question

[Pbum5]

Just wondering what year(s) Aerostar I should be looking for if I want to get an Aluminum driveshaft for a future T5 swap.

 

[ga289stocker]

Ditto?

 

[66forfun]

i used aluminum fms on a fox (3.5"dia) but my local shaft shop hooked me up with a moly shaft for street use and "all the race cars" get the moly tube. one dent and a tube is junk. i believe in strength for street use. the areostar is smaller in dia and probably less wall thk than any frrp part. good luck if thats the way you want to go.

 

[bnickel]

the later ones have a slightly bigger tube diameter, otherwise it doesn't matter which one you get, it will need to be shortened and balanced anyway and you'll need different u-joints as well. try doing a search here for aerostar driveshaft and you'll find several threads on the subject and you'll come up with a lot more specific info than i can remember.

 

[Pbum5]

Yeah, I looked at the past threads but I never saw anything about the year.

Thanks.. I know that they have to be shortened. So would my stock shaft after a T5 swap. I would also have to change U-joint at that time.

I figure it’s a better option than my stock shaft.

 

[68converted]

Don't do it. My local driveshaft shop (this is the shop that pretty much all the racers use) said that "yes the Aerostar driveshaft can be shortened but that the wall thickness is so thin that it is virtually impossible to make a clean weld to reattach the yoke. The hooked me up with a sweet aluminum (3") race unit for about $225 with the upgraded yokes.

I am not a driveshaft pro, but they are and after a ton of research on this site, tons of advice from the great guys that support this site. I came to the decision to just have one put together. I figured I could put a small amount of money into the shaft, behind the EXPENSIVE engine and trans, so that there was NO vibration or worries about that THIN weld. Just one mans opinion though.

 

[Pbum5]

Don't do it. My local driveshaft shop (this is the shop that pretty much all the racers use) said that "yes the Aerostar driveshaft can be shortened but that the wall thickness is so thin that it is virtually impossible to make a clean weld to reattach the yoke. The hooked me up with a sweet aluminum (3") race unit for about $225 with the upgraded yokes.
:

Is that including the T5 slip yoke and U-joints?

 

[bnickel]

Is that including the T5 slip yoke and U-joints?

it really depends on how much power you're making, less than 350hp it'll be fine more and you'll need to think about another shaft.

if you're stock shaft is the goofy tube within a tube with the rubber between the tubes you cant't use that shaft anyway, it can't be shortened and it can't even be balanced either whether it's been shortened or not.

it's your call if you want to use the aerostar shaft or have one custom made. generally a custom made shaft will run 2-3 times what it will cost to have the aerostar shaft shortened and balanced

 

[Decurion]

A guy I know switched to the aerostar alum shaft after I suggested it, and hes running 13.0s on it in a 3400lb 5 speed car.

 

[68converted]

Is that including the T5 slip yoke and U-joints?

Sorry, away for a few days. I have the AOD, but yes it included my NEW yokes.

I don't mean to insult any of the very talented welders out there, and I know that there are some companies that can do the welds, but like my Drivetrain shop said; Ford has a driveshaft welding machine/robot that costs milliions. I highly doubt that ANY drive line shop has that kind of technology, that you are not going to pay for in the price for the "used" yet shortened driveshaft.

JMHO

 

[tweet66]

My Aerostar driveshaft came out of an '89 and cost me $20. Add another $100 to have it shortened. The wall thickness on the one I have measured just under 3/8" thick. I don't know if that's considered thin or not but it seemed pretty substantial to me.

 

[ForceFed70]

Don't do it. My local driveshaft shop (this is the shop that pretty much all the racers use) said that "yes the Aerostar driveshaft can be shortened but that the wall thickness is so thin that it is virtually impossible to make a clean weld to reattach the yoke. The hooked me up with a sweet aluminum (3") race unit for about $225 with the upgraded yokes.

I am not a driveshaft pro, but they are and after a ton of research on this site, tons of advice from the great guys that support this site. I came to the decision to just have one put together. I figured I could put a small amount of money into the shaft, behind the EXPENSIVE engine and trans, so that there was NO vibration or worries about that THIN weld. Just one mans opinion though.

Hmmm, they are factory welded.

Local shop that did mine didn't seem to think it would be a problem. I asked about strength and the guy just laughed at me and pointed to my T5. He figures the input shaft of the T5 will break long before the driveshaft. This guy seemed to know his stuff as he could rattle off the u-joint sizes and part numbers I needed by memory (he already knew what size U-joints the aerostar shaft used, the 9" rear used, and the factory T5 output shaft u-joint without even having to look them up)

I haven't beaten on it too hard, but so far it's held up great.

 

[Pbum5]

Why cant anything be easy?
I tough I found an Aerostar drive shaft locally but the guy wanted $60, so I passed..

I''ll have to weigh my options..