Drive Shaft Shop

[kidcrossover69]

i just want input on what u guys think about the
steel drive shaft if its worth getting rather than the aluminum one for an 1991 240sx coupe.do you guys find this a good upgrade as well?

[DreamN]

Go aluminum. Great upgrade. Incredibly noticeable difference.

[racepar1]

I have a steel one and I like it. It is lighter than the OE shaft, and it elimenates flex. It is a good upgrade for sure. The aluminum one would be nice, but not really necessary. As far as I know it really isn't THAT much lighter than the steel one anyways.

[DreamN]

Aluminum is around 10-11 lbs. while the steel one is 15 lbs I believe. When we're talking about drivetrain loss, it's a big difference.

[kidcrossover69]

did u have any problem installing it or was it
direct fit and how is the outcome of it when u
drive any noise at all?

[DreamN]

I don't have one. Driven in one with an aluminum and the response was much better. Match it with a fidanza flywheel and it's gold. His hatch was gutted so noise was apparent and he told me the install was cake.

[kidcrossover69]

I don't have one. Driven in one with an aluminum and the response was much better. Match it with a fidanza flywheel and it's gold. His hatch was gutted so noise was apparent and he told me the install was cake.

dayum thats coo really looking
forward to coming up with one this month

[bo2o]

its juss more response.
you will loose some of that lag that you get wen trying to take off.
you loose a little bit of comfort. but you give it up for being more response sive. and if you get a lighter one your rev will b faster.
not shure if you loose torque tho. prolly do iono.

sound wise.
its like getting a pulley or flywheel. your not going to notice it. it juss free's up hp on your car but you might loose tq.

[DreamN]

didn't seem like my friend's car lost torque. revs and response was just way quicker.

[g6civcx]

Before making a decision, I strongly suggest you call the manufacturer and ask their opinion. They're extra nice guys over at DSS.

I prefer steel for strength and additional rotational inertia over aluminium.

When you talk to them, make sure you ask about what issues they have with the aluminium units. It's best to get it straight from the source.

[drift freaq]

its juss more response.
you will loose some of that lag that you get wen trying to take off.
you loose a little bit of comfort. but you give it up for being more response sive. and if you get a lighter one your rev will b faster.
not shure if you loose torque tho. prolly do iono.

sound wise.
its like getting a pulley or flywheel. your not going to notice it. it juss free's up hp on your car but you might loose tq.

Loss of comfort? LOL you have obviously have never used a one piece driveshaft or used a unbalanced one. Loss of torque? LOL again you speak with no knowledge here.

Ok mythbusters time.
I ran a One piece driveshaft and have sold and installed them in cars.

First off the reason Nissan put a two piece driveshaft in our cars is because they used non lube able u joints that were designed to be lifetime(plus if it did wear out and you sought to replace it from Nissan they would sell you a whole driveshaft, much more profitable than just selling you new u joints) .

Fact is a u joint wears faster when the it is horizontal or directly faced. If you angle the wear position it does not wear nearly as fast.
This is what Nissan did with the two piece driveshaft.

Now your asking why did Nissan bother making a two piece driveshaft just to slow down u joint wear? Non lube-able u joints are a lot less expensive to manufacture.

One piece steel driveshafts are a good comprimise. You get a considerably lighter driveshaft with less torque and Hp loss due to the lack of the flexable center support bushing and the funky rubber coupler on the front of USDM driveshafts on S13's.

Aluminum while being a bit lighter is a bit of a trade off due to the extra added costs and the fact that they do sometimes vibrate slightly.

P.S. if you doubt this about the driveshafts go look at 510 or S30 driveshafts all of which were one piece with lube able u joints stock.
Remember people Nissan is a corporation for profit which means cutting costs to make more money will and can be done with technology.

[kidcrossover69]

dayum so overall it would be good to go with the steel
driveshaft due to security as well. compared to the aluminum one
correct me if im wrong but arent aluminum dhs most likely to give out
on u or more risky to have because of its material.

[SnakeKack]

I have no experience with driveshafts but while searching for flywheels I found a steel flywheel that weighs 11 lbs. When I found it I went for it.

Aluminum sounds nice but if the steel one is only 4 pounds more I think I'm gonna go that route myself.

[drift freaq]

dayum so overall it would be good to go with the steel
driveshaft due to security as well. compared to the aluminum one
correct me if im wrong but arent aluminum dhs most likely to give out
on u or more risky to have because of its material.

Overall steel are considerably less expensive. Aluminum ones will not give out any faster. They have been known to make vibrational noise. I am not sure if this a harmonic issue or just a harder to balance issue. Most people that use aluminum driveshafts are running race cars and like other race car mods, a little extra noise or vibration is usually not a big deal as long as it does not effect other things.

[khilgers]

I upgraded to a steel DS when I did my auto-manual swap. For the $ it wasn't worth going with an aluminum one. My car will never see a drag strip and is mostly street driven and sees about 6-7 drift events all year. Unless you car is track driven, or you HAVE TO upgrade I would save your $ and invest in other areas, suspension, brakes, etc. But that's just my $.02

[kidcrossover69]

ya i found the steel ones way
more expensive then the aluminum one and about the same turnout
im just gonna have to go with the steel one
and another thing is it better getting it at frsport
or phase2? never dealt with either companies so
just need input from people that have

[S14DB]

Driveshaft is after the transmission so you will not loose rotational mass on the engine. That's what gives you the bog when engaging the clutch after getting a lightweight flywheel.

Engine is mounted sightly at an angle so that it's off center. Keeps the shaft from developing a harmonic.

CF is the best as it is the lightest and the most torsional flex.
Steel is better for Drag as it flexes torsionally acting as a slingshot. CF a little better.
Alum is lighter than steel so less power loss. But, it's the stiffest so launches are more on/off. Better for track use.

Both are better than stock.

[KiLLeR2001]

I have an aluminum driveshaft with a lightweight flywheel; car revs effortlessly, feels a lot better to me compared to the stock flywheel and driveshaft.

[kidcrossover69]

Driveshaft is after the transmission so you will not loose rotational mass on the engine. That's what gives you the bog when engaging the clutch after getting a lightweight flywheel.

Engine is mounted sightly at an angle so that it's off center. Keeps the shaft from developing a harmonic.

CF is the best as it is the lightest and the most torsional flex.
Steel is better for Drag as it flexes torsionally acting as a slingshot. CF a little better.
Alum is lighter than steel so less power loss. But, it's the stiffest so launches are more on/off. Better for track use.

Both are better than stock.

ya i feel u it is better than stock
but as for the steel ds its better for drag
how would it be for dd any worries?

[brndck]

i have a dss aluminum 1pc. extremely easy to install. motor revs way more smoothly and freely. very very very minor vibration/noise increase compared to the stock one which had 150k on it. so far i can't think of any cons to it. i have no experience with the steels so i can't compare but i really like the alum one. it's daily driven too.

[s13 drifta]

Driveshaft is after the transmission so you will not loose rotational mass on the engine. That's what gives you the bog when engaging the clutch after getting a lightweight flywheel.

Engine is mounted sightly at an angle so that it's off center. Keeps the shaft from developing a harmonic.

CF is the best as it is the lightest and the most torsional flex.
Steel is better for Drag as it flexes torsionally acting as a slingshot. CF a little better.
Alum is lighter than steel so less power loss. But, it's the stiffest so launches are more on/off. Better for track use.

Both are better than stock.

I think you might have that backwards, the steel driveshaft is the stiffest and aluminum one flexes because its a softer metal.

[Grendel]

ya i found the steel ones way
more expensive then the aluminum one and about the same turnout
im just gonna have to go with the steel one
and another thing is it better getting it at frsport
or phase2? never dealt with either companies so
just need input from people that have

I just bought a bunch of parts from frsport, they ship quick and their sales people (Vu helped me) are really helpful. I'd recommend them...

No idea about the drive shaft tho :p

[racepar1]

I think you might have that backwards, the steel driveshaft is the stiffest and aluminum one flexes because its a softer metal.

Aluminum is stiffer than steel, but weaker for the same guage metal. This is the reason that the aluminum shaft is only a few pounds lighter than the steel one, you need more material to match the strenghth. Aluminum does not flex, it just breaks.

[kidcrossover69]

I just bought a bunch of parts from frsport, they ship quick and their sales people (Vu helped me) are really helpful. I'd recommend them...
No idea about the drive shaft tho :p

thanxs on the input about them

Aluminum is stiffer than steel, but weaker for the same guage metal. This is the reason that the aluminum shaft is only a few pounds lighter than the steel one, you need more material to match the strenghth. Aluminum does not flex, it just breaks.

what do u mean by flex by the way sry if asking
u this im just curious.

[racepar1]

what do u mean by flex by the way sry if asking
u this im just curious.

When you apply a load to a piece of steel it flexes quite a bit before it breaks. If you apply the same load to a piece of aluminum that is the same strength it does not flex as much before it breaks. Aluminum is a stiffer and more brittle material than steel. By "flex" I mean either bend or twist, depending on how the load is applied.

[kidcrossover69]

When you apply a load to a piece of steel it flexes quite a bit before it breaks. If you apply the same load to a piece of aluminum that is the same strength it does not flex as much before it breaks. Aluminum is a stiffer and more brittle material than steel. By "flex" I mean either bend or twist, depending on how the load is applied.

thanxs mayn on answering my question
by the way are there any necessary lubricants needed when i install it?

[sunnys14]

www.shaftmasters.com (http://www.shaftmasters.com) has aluminum driveshafts for $325 shipped which is cheaper than DSS shafts for anyone looking for lower priced shafts. I see quite a few people from freshalloy and nico use them.

[s13 drifta]

Yeah I think Im going with a shaftmasters, I heard good things about them.

[clark]

let's open up our options here lol.

i got my steel driveshaft (15lbs) from rndfactory. it costed considerably less than one made by DSS.

the DSS uses spicer ujoints, which are popular, and easy to find in the event you break one or whatever.

the rndfactory shaft i used used OEM yokes and OEM ujoints.

[clark]

thanxs mayn on answering my question
by the way are there any necessary lubricants needed when i install it?

you won't need any special lubricants (you can put a little lithium grease on the spline if you want). if you opt for the DSS one, the ujoint in the front of the shaft (tranny side) is much larger than oem and you will have to remove your dust collar, a common problem.

be sure you are 100% positive of what type of diff you have when you get your shaft made. reason being diffs with ABS are longer, thus needing a shorter driveshaft.

sorry if i'm overcomplicating things here, but don't want you to make the mistake others have made in the past.

[S14DB]

ya i feel u it is better than stock
but as for the steel ds its better for drag
how would it be for dd any worries?

I don't think you'll notice a difference between the two DD. Alum will be a little more responsive cause it's lighter. You wont notice the torsional response from the steel till you do a drag launch. I hope you are not doing that daily.

Use a Lithium Grease with Moly on the input shaft. Same in the bearings.

As far as torsional response. Steel bends before breaking Aluminum bends as it is breaking. Steel will twist a little under load then snap back. This gives a little sling shot effect on launch. CF is the best cause it twists even more than steel and is lighter than Alum.

[kidcrossover69]

I don't think you'll notice a difference between the two DD. Alum will be a little more responsive cause it's lighter. You wont notice the torsional response from the steel till you do a drag launch. I hope you are not doing that daily.

Use a Lithium Grease with Moly on the input shaft. Same in the bearings.

As far as torsional response. Steel bends before breaking Aluminum bends as it is breaking. Steel will twist a little under load then snap back. This gives a little sling shot effect on launch. CF is the best cause it twists even more than steel and is lighter than Alum.

so i should apply grease on the shaft before installing it?