Epiphany
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Every time I get my hands or eyes on something automotive I start by studying closely, always wondering how and why. What I find equally as captivating is who. Over the years and with each generation of Mustang I've learned quite a bit as to the suppliers as well as the fact that Ford seems to go out of their way to keep quiet about it. Once in a while they share who did but what but not often. So I wanted to start a thread dedicated to the bits and pieces that make up the 2020 GT500, the ones that aren't readily apparent.
To begin with, a part that wasn't around when I was a kid and in a material I wish we'd see far more of - carbon fiber. Specifically, the carbon fiber driveshaft on the 2020 GT500. Ford chose to use one on the 2013-2014 GT500 and the benefits of using one allowed the car to reach an alleged top speed of over 200mph. From a small presentation Ford engineers did at the time...
I was so impressed with the piece that I figured out a way to adapt the '13/'14 CF driveshaft to the '07-'12 GT500's that came before it. An engineered billet steel adapter and the factory shaft bolted right in. I tried to secure unfinished fixed flanges from Tremec to reduce cost but they were unwilling to chance violating certain terms they had come to with Ford. I ended up working with a superb machinist on this one without anything from Tremec.
I ended up doing runs of a dozen or so each time and sold them to '07-'12 GT500 owners that could now use the factory '13/'14 CF shaft. Everyone agreed - the CF shaft in place of the two-piece steel made a noticeable difference in terms of NVH, all positive at that. I learned first hand how good of an idea this was and figured Ford would stick with these from now on with any Shelby program they decided to do.
Enter the 2015 Shelby GT350 and I was lucky enough to get invited to the Powertrain Reveal at Building 57 (SVT's headquarters that was shared with Roush). I spoke at length to every engineer there including Jamal Hameedi, the head engineer at SVT. He was great to talk to but seemed slightly evasive when I questioned him about the choice of a two-piece steel shaft in the car after learning how beneficial it was on the '13/'14 GT500. A discussion for another day but suffice it to say that for whatever reason SVT had chosen to not use a CF shaft aft of the Voodoo engine. I planned of once again to fit a CF shaft in place on my own but wasn't that impressed with what the aftermarket was offering. I then started seeing QA1 making mention of setting up a CF shaft operation of their own. It looked like they were going to offer some shafts for use in a few different sanctioned motorsports vehicles as well as a few passenger car applications. When they announced a CF shaft for the GT350 I jumped at the chance as they had really stepped up their game with a CF shaft that stood out above the rest in terms of quality and engineering. I did a writeup in the GT350 section on my install as it was too good of a product to not share. I ended up selling the car in November of 2017 with a plan to buy the yet unannounced GT500.
When finally introduced at the Detroit Auto Show, I was thrilled to hear that Ford was going to once again use a CF driveshaft. It made perfect sense as most everyone knew the car could use all the weight reduction it could get. It was at that moment that I tried to figure out who would be supplying the shaft for this one and figured it would be along the lines of what the '13/'14 GT500 used. Relevant to this discussion, some of the background...
Laid up tubes for the '13/'14 came from Toray. Note the increased OD at the ends...
The CF tubes were mated at each end with machined and heat treated inserts that provided points to attach CV joints. IIRC, it was Neapco that took care of this portion of the manufacture of these CF shaft assemblies.
These splined ends were then pressed into the tubes, dry.
This was a rather unique way to attach the ends as most everyone else in the game was bonding them, chemically. The arrangement proved to be very robust and a perfect match for the car and the way it was used. This is pretty much the shaft, albeit in the sizes necessary, that I figured would be used on the 2020 GT500. I assumed it would likely deviate in whatever fashion necessary to be optimized for the Predator/DCT combination over that of the Trinity/TR6060 as that would make sense given the money Ford spent in development.
I had yet to see some clear and up close shots of the 2020 GT500 driveshaft as Ford hasn't promoted it like they did previously and nobody has pulled one out and documented it yet. So I was a bit surprised when I finally got a good look at it while under the car to do Lethal Performance's resonator delete. After making a couple required cuts to the exhaust system and removing the factory resonators this was my view.
This was clearly not anything like the tube design that was used on the previous GT500, which looked like this when in place...
Different design but same supplier? Didn't know but one thing is for sure, it looked a heck of a lot like the CF shaft I purchased from QA1 for my GT350.
Here's a shot of the QA1 GT350 CF shaft atop a factory '13/'14 GT500 shaft.
Odd that the lay up on the 2020 GT500 CF driveshaft looked very close to that of what QA1 has been doing. Looking closely, not at the diagonal/intersecting filament windings but rather at the lines you see parallel and about 1/4" apart there is a striking similarity. What you see on the 2020 GT500 shaft is what you see on an aftermarket QA1 CF tube...
Those lines are from the compaction tape QA1 uses after the carbon fiber is wound on the mandrel. The tape helps ensure a uniform wall thickness and helps with surface protection. What you see in the next photo is from Dunstone's website, a company that provides the hi-shrink tape to QA1 and it it is this signature that I believe shows that QA1 is indeed doing the CF shafts for the 2020 GT500.
How the tape is used to make for a stronger tube and why the GT500's tube looks to be from QA1.
This link to Dunstone's page shows that they supply QA1...
https://www.shrinktape.com/markets/fan-case-and-drive-shafts/
Finally, there is a tag on each and every 2020 GT500 driveshaft. Even new they are somewhat difficult to read but look at the upper right hand corner from the tag on mine. It shows a serial number that reads "QA1001640." The first two letters could have stood for Quality Assurance but I'm convinced they don't. It is QA1 supplying the tubes for this car. I'd be interested to see somebody else's tag (along with their chassis number) to figure out their numbering system.
Anyway, I hope some knowledge has been imparted that shares some of the history on this that leads us to where we are on this part. How QA1 became a Tier supplier here I have no idea as I think this is their first effort (with CF driveshafts anyway).
To begin with, a part that wasn't around when I was a kid and in a material I wish we'd see far more of - carbon fiber. Specifically, the carbon fiber driveshaft on the 2020 GT500. Ford chose to use one on the 2013-2014 GT500 and the benefits of using one allowed the car to reach an alleged top speed of over 200mph. From a small presentation Ford engineers did at the time...
I was so impressed with the piece that I figured out a way to adapt the '13/'14 CF driveshaft to the '07-'12 GT500's that came before it. An engineered billet steel adapter and the factory shaft bolted right in. I tried to secure unfinished fixed flanges from Tremec to reduce cost but they were unwilling to chance violating certain terms they had come to with Ford. I ended up working with a superb machinist on this one without anything from Tremec.
I ended up doing runs of a dozen or so each time and sold them to '07-'12 GT500 owners that could now use the factory '13/'14 CF shaft. Everyone agreed - the CF shaft in place of the two-piece steel made a noticeable difference in terms of NVH, all positive at that. I learned first hand how good of an idea this was and figured Ford would stick with these from now on with any Shelby program they decided to do.
Enter the 2015 Shelby GT350 and I was lucky enough to get invited to the Powertrain Reveal at Building 57 (SVT's headquarters that was shared with Roush). I spoke at length to every engineer there including Jamal Hameedi, the head engineer at SVT. He was great to talk to but seemed slightly evasive when I questioned him about the choice of a two-piece steel shaft in the car after learning how beneficial it was on the '13/'14 GT500. A discussion for another day but suffice it to say that for whatever reason SVT had chosen to not use a CF shaft aft of the Voodoo engine. I planned of once again to fit a CF shaft in place on my own but wasn't that impressed with what the aftermarket was offering. I then started seeing QA1 making mention of setting up a CF shaft operation of their own. It looked like they were going to offer some shafts for use in a few different sanctioned motorsports vehicles as well as a few passenger car applications. When they announced a CF shaft for the GT350 I jumped at the chance as they had really stepped up their game with a CF shaft that stood out above the rest in terms of quality and engineering. I did a writeup in the GT350 section on my install as it was too good of a product to not share. I ended up selling the car in November of 2017 with a plan to buy the yet unannounced GT500.
When finally introduced at the Detroit Auto Show, I was thrilled to hear that Ford was going to once again use a CF driveshaft. It made perfect sense as most everyone knew the car could use all the weight reduction it could get. It was at that moment that I tried to figure out who would be supplying the shaft for this one and figured it would be along the lines of what the '13/'14 GT500 used. Relevant to this discussion, some of the background...
Laid up tubes for the '13/'14 came from Toray. Note the increased OD at the ends...
The CF tubes were mated at each end with machined and heat treated inserts that provided points to attach CV joints. IIRC, it was Neapco that took care of this portion of the manufacture of these CF shaft assemblies.
These splined ends were then pressed into the tubes, dry.
This was a rather unique way to attach the ends as most everyone else in the game was bonding them, chemically. The arrangement proved to be very robust and a perfect match for the car and the way it was used. This is pretty much the shaft, albeit in the sizes necessary, that I figured would be used on the 2020 GT500. I assumed it would likely deviate in whatever fashion necessary to be optimized for the Predator/DCT combination over that of the Trinity/TR6060 as that would make sense given the money Ford spent in development.
I had yet to see some clear and up close shots of the 2020 GT500 driveshaft as Ford hasn't promoted it like they did previously and nobody has pulled one out and documented it yet. So I was a bit surprised when I finally got a good look at it while under the car to do Lethal Performance's resonator delete. After making a couple required cuts to the exhaust system and removing the factory resonators this was my view.
This was clearly not anything like the tube design that was used on the previous GT500, which looked like this when in place...
Different design but same supplier? Didn't know but one thing is for sure, it looked a heck of a lot like the CF shaft I purchased from QA1 for my GT350.
Here's a shot of the QA1 GT350 CF shaft atop a factory '13/'14 GT500 shaft.
Odd that the lay up on the 2020 GT500 CF driveshaft looked very close to that of what QA1 has been doing. Looking closely, not at the diagonal/intersecting filament windings but rather at the lines you see parallel and about 1/4" apart there is a striking similarity. What you see on the 2020 GT500 shaft is what you see on an aftermarket QA1 CF tube...
Those lines are from the compaction tape QA1 uses after the carbon fiber is wound on the mandrel. The tape helps ensure a uniform wall thickness and helps with surface protection. What you see in the next photo is from Dunstone's website, a company that provides the hi-shrink tape to QA1 and it it is this signature that I believe shows that QA1 is indeed doing the CF shafts for the 2020 GT500.
How the tape is used to make for a stronger tube and why the GT500's tube looks to be from QA1.
This link to Dunstone's page shows that they supply QA1...
https://www.shrinktape.com/markets/fan-case-and-drive-shafts/
Finally, there is a tag on each and every 2020 GT500 driveshaft. Even new they are somewhat difficult to read but look at the upper right hand corner from the tag on mine. It shows a serial number that reads "QA1001640." The first two letters could have stood for Quality Assurance but I'm convinced they don't. It is QA1 supplying the tubes for this car. I'd be interested to see somebody else's tag (along with their chassis number) to figure out their numbering system.
Anyway, I hope some knowledge has been imparted that shares some of the history on this that leads us to where we are on this part. How QA1 became a Tier supplier here I have no idea as I think this is their first effort (with CF driveshafts anyway).
Sponsored
Last edited:
