Carbon Fiber driveshafts

[andrewb70]

Does anyone here have any first hand experience with carbon fiber driveshafts? I see several companies making them with a wide range of prices.

http://www.bactechnologies.com/shafts.htm

http://www.markwilliams.com/detail.aspx?ID=326

http://www.pstds.com/

http://www.acpt.com/driveshaft/driveshafts.html

Any input is appreciated.

Andrew

[Steve1968LS2]

What do you want to know?

They are very lightweight and strong. If one does break the end will "broom" out and not rip through the floor of your car.

The downside is that they can be damaged by road debris and bad chips can lead to failures. Because of this they need to be visually inspected regularly.

I was thinking of, in my never ending quest to lower rotating mass, of putting one in Penny. I had the idea of having the DS covered in the XPEL type clear bra. This would protect the DS from rock and road damage. After all, the clear bra stuff was originally developed for the military to protect the leading edges of carbon-composite rotor blades from rock, sand and other small debris.

ACPT is one of the larger makes, they supply Inland Empire Driveline Service where I get my stuff done.

Any specific questions?

[andrewb70]

I read all the benefits and downsides, etc. I want to hear some real world testimony regarding things like driveline noise, vibration, etc.

The BAC driveshaft looks very interesting, but I am suspicious because they don't include a slip yoke. I always thought that the driveshaft needs to be balanced with the slip yoke.

Andrew

[Steve1968LS2]

Yes, I would think it would need to be balanced with the slip yoke.

[Steve1968LS2]

This is interesting.. I think I need to dyno-test this idea..


a supercharged LT1 Camaro on a DynoJet chassis dynamometer showed a power gain at the wheels
that increased as the engine made more power. At 3000 rpm, the shaft put nine additional horsepower
to the ground, and at 5000 rpm when the engine was making almost twice the power, this number
nearly doubled

From this source: http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/doc.asp?CID=1080&DID=6583

[Larry Callahan]

I have been wondering some of this myself. I was going to call Inland Empire for one after Franks swaps out the rear end in MotiV8r. I really like the "brooming" after seeing Jeff's Cadillac incident.

[chicane67]

I have used ACPT and Williams shafts... and prefer the Williams.

The early ACPT shafts had balance issues but were more robust for a street driven chassis... and the balance issue is a thing of the past now-a-days.

I dont put much on the whole 'damaged by road debris' idea. The exhaust is a good protector, especially when you run 3 or 3.5" tubes down the chassis... it doesnt lend the space for very much to get to the shaft. I am pretty sure that whole alarmist thought of that was from the off road crowd... and not the street car or race car crowd.

From a saftey stand point, fiber is the only thing to use. No snap oversteer with the shaft fails, doesnt beat up the floor pan, it dampens vibration transmission from the trans to the differential (which equals an increase in bearing life for both) and it has a low MOI. For the flog it crowd... its natural/critical speed is much, much higher.

[AUTODYNAMICS]

I recently put in a custom carbon fiber Driveshaft from Frank at the Driveshaft shop. My testimonia is that there is a seat in the pants difference, sexy as hell lighter about 40% from my steel one, and overall harmony is much much better...

[hectore3]

Suscribing.

[Nothingface5384]

i'll most likely end up getting one once I switch to a th400...or unless icome into stupid money for a 4l80e with computer control unit...