To go aluminum or not???

[!white89lx!]

Ford racing aluminum drive shaft for an 89 lx
yay or nay??
Yes i know its less rotational mass, but when i look at them all i think about it crushing an aluminum can.
Im somewhere in the range of 330ish horsepower

 

[85ragtop]

This belongs in tech.
Thread moved.

 

[cenok is family]

that aluminum is A LOT stronger than you think. it'll EASILY handle your 330hp. i definitely don't regret getting mine. cleared up all vibration's i had.

 

[BAD88GT]

Yes go with the aluminum driveshaft, my car is only making maybe 290-300 horsepower and a couple of weeks ago at the nmra finals on my first pass I dropped the clutch and twisted the stocker in two. The aluminum is much stronger and on my other cars helped alot with vibrations. My aluminum will be on order shortly.

 

[NIKwoaC]

Yes go with the aluminum driveshaft, my car is only making maybe 290-300 horsepower and a couple of weeks ago at the nmra finals on my first pass I dropped the clutch and twisted the stocker in two. The aluminum is much stronger and on my other cars helped alot with vibrations. My aluminum will be on order shortly.

For real? Wow. I've heard of breaking axles, obviously breaking T5s, but I've never heard of a Fox twisting a driveshaft. I take it your car has a sturdy rear end/axles and an upgraded trans? Otherwise I'm bewildered why one of those didn't break first.

 

[5spd GT]

I did not noticing anything by the seat of the pants.

It was noticeably lighter when holding both.

 

[Beasty306GT]

Put one in......When i got my mustang last year..thats one of the things i did is swap out the stock for the aluminum ford racing...its bigger than the stock one .....do it you wont regret it..ull get less vibration and it;s lighter..and looks good

 

[!white89lx!]

Thanks guys that eases my mind!
i didnt want to end up wasting $300!
Hopefully gonna be ordering one soon!

 

[SQUEEZE&STROKE]

I ran my stocker making 407HP to the weels with 1.5-1.6 60 fts on slicks.

I had a driveshaft made out of chromemoly from strange. 1350 u joints and about the same width as a stock shaft. That thing will never break.

BTW, I have seen Aluminum D/S twist like a pretzel....

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

I bought one for my Cobra when they were cheap...maybe back in 2001-2002. They were only like 189.99. I installed it, didn't notice a thing. Didn't run better times, didn't do anything for vibration, didn't rev faster etc...I took it back out and it sits on my shelf in the garage collecting dust.

But they are stronger than steel. 330ish HP will NOT break a stock shaft or the aluminum one. I think they are 239.99 now?? I'd save my money and invest it else where in the car.

 

[ImportSlayer347]

I got an aluminum driveshaft from FRPP as well. I am running about 425-450 at the the wheels. No problems and very little vibration. Go for it, you will not regret it.

 

[Mustang5L5]

The diameter is the main reason they are stronger. The shaft is under torsional stress and since the AL D/S is a larger diameter, the load is spread out more.

Plus remember the axles are subjected to gear multiplication as well. The driveshaft sees less torque because the rear axle gears increase the torque factor on the smaller diameter axles.

In other words....you have a better shot of twisting an axle first than an A/L driveshaft

 

[BAD88GT]

My rearend has moser axles and an aftermarket rearend cover,but my tranny is a stock t-5.

 

[NIKwoaC]

My rearend has moser axles and an aftermarket rearend cover,but my tranny is a stock t-5.

Yea, the T5 will go before you break anything else. In fact, in my experience, the T5 is usually the FIRST thing to go, even before the factory axles. That being said though, I've seen plenty of T5s run on slicks and 31+ spline axles... I guess its just a thing of luck.

 

[BAD88GT]

Yes it's odd how it works, I ran a wc t-5 in a 88GT making around 400 hp for two years beating the crap out if and running slicks a few times, I put the same t-5 in a stock 93 GT and broke it with street tires on it. Very odd, the tranny in this car is the next thing to be upgraded soon as the cash flow allows.