one piece driveshaft advice

[dragracer]

Who makes quality one piece driveshafts?

Been out of the supra a little while now.

I had a Jawsgear one before. Seemed good, but don't see on the website.

Looking for steel.

 

[FernandoDLT]

Drive Shaft Shop

 

[BrandonW]

I was thinking about going with a one piece aluminum from these guys but put it on the back burner since nothing is wrong with mine

http://shaftmasters.com/

might want to give them a try and I think they are still part of the forums here

 

[Stepchild21]

I have the one piece driveshaft from the driveshaft shop. Quality product.

 

[dragracer]

Thanks guys

 

[havocatl]

I was thinking about going with a one piece aluminum from these guys but put it on the back burner since nothing is wrong with mine

http://shaftmasters.com/

might want to give them a try and I think they are still part of the forums here

I bought the shaftmasters for my 89. It shipped in about 5 days. Looks real good quality... won't know how it actually holds up until I get my motor running.

 

[rhs]

I have a steel one piece from shaftmasters. No problems and honestly, it doesn't weigh that much.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I'd press Drive Shaft Shop to make an aluminum two piece. Frank started work on one for me and then had to abandon the project for other money makers. Kind of left me high and dry, but he refused to take payment so in the end he was a good vendor.

The two piece aluminum is the ultimate mix of light weight and strength for street use, IMO.

 

[SideWinderGX]

I bought an aluminum one piece DS from shaftmasters in July of 2008. Its 20 lbs lighter than the stock unit (most of which is reciprocating weight) and it's been great since then. Noticeable difference in acceleration and its balanced well so it runs very smooth.

 

[Stepchild21]

It's the same concept as a light weight flywheel. The less rotating mass the better. Pick up a 50lb weight and try to spin it. Pick up a 20lb and see how much easier thatll spin. Just gotta have the right mix of light vs strength

 

[Nick M]

That is a relatively long wheel base for one piece.

 

[chevyguyjoe]

^ Not entirely true. I come from the S10 world. The long wheelbase chevy s10 is 122.9 inches. Many on road guys swapped out to a one piece drive shaft. This required modifying the cross member with the carrier bearing in it, and often the floor as well. But it would result in a much simpler setup, eliminating the double-cardan joints. The off roaders often kept the two piece setup for ground clearance. Our Supra's 102.2 inch wheelbase shouldn't be too long for a one piece.

 

[dragracer]

That's why I would run a steel one. I had a Jawsgear one piece steel on my car I sold. Ran it for a couple of years. Never any problems. Just wasn't sure who was out there building quality stuff.

I have a shop here that does great work. Built several for my old muscle cars. Only problem is they're anti import, so wont do.

 

[FernandoDLT]

No one here is going to break an aluminum DS....

 

[Nick M]

^ Not entirely true.

It is entirely true. It is relatively long for one piece, hence the extra money Toyota spent on a two piece. It isn't like an old 5.0 Mustang Fox Body and its short one piece.

 

[SideWinderGX]

It is entirely true. It is relatively long for one piece, hence the extra money Toyota spent on a two piece. It isn't like an old 5.0 Mustang Fox Body and its short one piece.

Just because Toyota did it doesn't mean it's the only way that anyone will ever be able to do it. I think this is called 'argument from authority', correct?

You could try doing some calculations on critical speed for the length/diameter of the aluminum and steel shafts and see where 'safe' is (hint, no one on here will ever get there), but I'm not a walking Toyota billboard so what do I know.

 

[suprarx7nut]

The theoretical limits of the common one piece shafts are well beyond typical usage, sure. The problem is that a one piece shaft can fail much, much more easily and will vibrate noticeably well before a two piece design. Also driveshaft failure can be lethal on the highway. A flailing shaft can sever brake lines, fuel lines, electrical lines, etc...

I'm not saying they're a death-trap or anything, but there's a very good reason most any (perhaps all) modern Front engine, rear drive, sports cars use a jointed driveshaft. A jointed driveshaft is at least twice as safe/reliable, often more than twice.

There's also a reason why many drag strips or race tracks require special straps/shields on one piece driveshafts to try to mitigate the added risk of using that design.

Cost is the major reason why one piece shafts are popular. It's simply because they're cheaper. Aside from very high performance applications (<5% of the folks on here) the two piece design is a better overall option, IMO. Unfortunately, there aren't many good two piece options out there and there are a bunch of cheap, half decent one piece options.

 

[FernandoDLT]

I dont think you've been in a car with a 1 piece DS. I haven't felt a single bit of vibration from them in any of the cars I've been in. Maybe it happened when they were first introduced decades ago? You're really overthinking this but it's your car and money so do what you want.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I dont think you've been in a car with a 1 piece DS. I haven't felt a single bit of vibration from them in any of the cars I've been in. Maybe it happened when they were first introduced decades ago? You're really overthinking this but it's your car and money so do what you want.

I've been in two, actually. Neither had any vibration at all. My point is that it's much more likely in a one piece design and that's a big reason why nearly no OEM cars come with a one piece design. The weight reduction isn't worth the risks. OEMs spend extra money to use two piece shafts.

Yours might be nice and true and that's great. However, there are people that buy one piece shafts, even today, and have vibration issues. Normally it can be sorted out by having it re-balanced, but in a two piece design the balance is much less critical.

 

[rhs]

Gonna throw out that P71 Crown Vics have one piece aluminum driveshafts and have no issues.