Carbon Fiber Drive Shafts

[7camaro7]

Has anyone had a carbon fiber drive shaft? When I graduate I plan on redoing my whole engine and everything. I want my car fast. I don't want to sell it because I've already done lots to it.

I want to know if carbon fiber drive shafts break easily. I'm wondering how they take up to 600hp.:hmm:

Thanks

[1QuikWS6]

By the nature of carbon fiber, it has great torsional strength, but if it is hit from the side it can shatter. also prone to cracking if it gets damaged/nicked in any way along it's length.

Personally I had a custom chromoly DS made with HD Spicer U Joints and a HD front yoke to get rid of the stock one with the 'doughnut'. This was done at a local shop and made by hand. DS needed absolutely no additional weight to balance and was spun up to rpm equivalent with 60mph on balancer.

[7camaro7]

Thanks a lot. nice T/A! and explain, "custom chromoly DS made with HD Spicer U Joints and a HD front yoke to get rid of the stock one with the 'doughnut'" I don't know a lot about drive shafts.

[1QuikWS6]

Basically he cut a piece of 3" dia. chromolly tubing the proper length, welded the yokes on either end, installed HD spicer u-joints instead of the stockers.

Before installing they mount the DS in a special machine that spins it up to the rpm's my car would see (with the gearing it has) to correspond to 60mph, then add/subtract weight to balance the shaft. Very similar to balancing a crank. If you look at the stock aluminum DS there are quite large weights attached to balance. This is due to the fact that they are production made in very large quantities and quickly. He takes great care/time to make each DS by hand. Around here his main business is either drag cars or trucks that compete in pulling contests so the DS must be both extremely strong and balanced well so as to not impart vibration.

I personally saw a couple scrap GM aluminum DS that had failed - most from cars that were either stock or only slightly modded. The aluminum gage that is used is very thin to cut down in cost/weight. Needless to say it looked as if someone had just twisted it apart by hand - the metal looked as if it were paper. That was my 1st reason to get a new DS!

The doughnut I am referring to is incorporated into the front yoke of the DS. It looks similar to a small harmonic damper with an inner ring/outer ring that are afixed to one another with some sort of elastomer product. I suppose that it is supposed to dampen DS harmonics with the stock aluminum shaft. At any rate, it only added more weight to the custom DS and was not needed - so he installed a standard style front yoke.

Thanks for the compliment on the car - it won me quite a few trophies at shoes thru the years! Only after a lot of work and $$ though...