Carbon Fiber Driveshaft coming soon!

[nastang87xx]

It's likely a combination of both; adequate stiffness costs money. A simple CF tube likely isn't going to cut it. It has to have lots of cross-lattice layers of high quality CF which is expensive. One of the advantages of CF is that it does flex a bit: it's strong, but not super stiff. Remember, stiffness and strength aren't the same.

Close, my man. Materials have 3 fundamental properties: strength, toughness, durability.

Strength is a material's resistance to being manipulated out of its native shape. A good example would be high carbon steel. A bad example would be wood, tin, or aluminum.

Toughness is a material's ability to shrug off breaking or cracking while maintaining its shape. Shock resistance basically. Carbon fiber is a good example as is some woods. A bad example would be glass or raw tungsten.

Durability is a material's wear resistance, if you will. A prime example would be tungsten alloys, glass, or diamond. It doesn't scratch or wear down easily. A bad example would be soft steels or basic plastics.

In general, most materials excel in 2 of these and are a bit lacking in the third, depending on application. Basically, take 100 points and divide them up into these three categories. Enjoy.


Moving along now...

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[Epiphany]

Any idea of what the stock 2 piece steel unit will weigh in the GT350 versus the a new 1 piece CF unit from DSS?
:cheers:

The GT350 two piece is very similar to the '07-'12 GT500 two piece (u-joint at front, CV joint at rear, etc) and probably fairly close in terms of length. So weight reduction should be close to what you saw with your Boss.

 

[CSL]

"The smoothness noticed on acceleration was really noticeable and even though I have no scientific proof that each of my Boss cars accelerated quicker it sure seemed that way to me and I have owned many Boss 302 cars."

The proof comes from before and after dyno pulls that show the power increase. A driveshaft swap can act like a power mod in some respects.

 

[SVTDSM]

Stock drive shaft is 27lbs. I estimate the Dss shaft will be 15-16 pounds. So over 40% reduction in weight.

 

[nastang87xx]

Stiff enough for what???

The punishment from the RPM load. Ford didn't say it wasn't possible, just didn't fall within their required parameters of cost and benefit.

 

[SVTDSM]

"The smoothness noticed on acceleration was really noticeable and even though I have no scientific proof that each of my Boss cars accelerated quicker it sure seemed that way to me and I have owned many Boss 302 cars."

The proof comes from before and after dyno pulls that show the power increase. A driveshaft swap can act like a power mod in some respects.

The advantages of a CF shaft go far beyond decreased rotation mass in the hopes of putting more power to the ground.

Improved NVH
Stronger
Shave weight
Less driveline shock due to elasticity
Possibly better fuel mileage due to less rotational mass

I do agree though on the small diameter of a driveshaft having very little affect on rotational mass. Same reason wheel manufacturers concentrate on removing weight farthest from the hub.

 

[PP0001]

Stock drive shaft is 27lbs. I estimate the Dss shaft will be 15-16 pounds. So over 40% reduction in weight.

The weight on my stock 2 piece Boss 302 drive shafts were ~45 pounds so hard to imagine only 27 pounds on a GT350.

Have you actually weighed a stock unit for the GT350?

The DSS CF drive shaft for my Boss cars was ~23 pounds if I recall correctly and again cannot see a 16 pound CF drive shaft from DSS for the GT350 but been wrong many times before.

:shrug:

 

[SVTDSM]

The weight on my stock 2 piece Boss 302 drive shafts were ~45 pounds so hard to imagine only 27 pounds on a GT350.

Have you actually weighed a stock unit for the GT350?

The DSS CF drive shaft for my Boss cars was ~23 pounds if I recall correctly and again cannot see a 16 pound CF drive shaft from DSS for the GT350 but been wrong many times before.

:shrug:

Yes I weighed it. Trust me it's 27lbs. The 16lb estimate I got was from weighing my Dss Carbon shaft from my GT, which is 18lbs minus the 2lb adapter that won't be used to mate the driveshaft to the transmission flange.

The factory Gt shaft was 36lbs so Ford somehow removed 9lbs from the Gt shaft, for the gt350. I'd say most of that was achieved by switching to a u-joint for mating to the tranny. But also just going off memory it seems like the cv is less bulky on the 350 shaft.

 

[PP0001]

Yes I weighed it. Trust me it's 27lbs. The 16lb estimate I got was from weighing my Dss Carbon shaft from my GT, which is 18lbs minus the 2lb adapter that won't be used to mate the driveshaft to the transmission flange.

The factory Gt shaft was 36lbs so Ford somehow removed 9lbs from the Gt shaft, for the gt350. I'd say most of that was achieved by switching to a u-joint for mating to the tranny. But also just going off memory it seems like the cv is less bulky on the 350 shaft.

Thanks so much as that is a big drop in weight of almost 20 pounds from the Boss 302 stock drive shafts and also a big drop on the CF fiber drive shaft as well from the Boss cars.

 

[stanglife]

Reducing rotational inertia is very important on an engine that revs over 8,000 rpm (nobody is arguing that the driveshaft has no direct relationship to axle speed).

You're confusing me. I'm saying that the driveshaft speed is not directly related to engine RPM. Driveshaft speed IS related to axle speed. So, if you're saying that it feels better or is better at 8000rpm, I'm telling you it has nothing to do with it unless your 8000rpm is at 150mph.

 

[krt22]

Driveshaft speed would be directly related to engine RPM in 5th.

 

[stanglife]

Driveshaft speed would be directly related to engine RPM in 5th.

Yeah but he's talking about 8000rpm.... Not important, I guess...I give up.

 

[zombiekiller]

Yeah but he's talking about 8000rpm.... Not important, I guess...I give up.

what would you say 170mph looks like? 8000rpm in 5th?

 

[Zitrosounds]

It's likely a combination of both; adequate stiffness costs money. A simple CF tube likely isn't going to cut it. It has to have lots of cross-lattice layers of high quality CF which is expensive. One of the advantages of CF is that it does flex a bit: it's strong, but not super stiff. Remember, stiffness and strength aren't the same.

I buy that CF shafts are good for a few lbs of overall weight savings, but the reduction in the moment of inertia is not very substantial as the radius of the driveshaft is so small.

Spending the $1500 on some lighter weight rear wheels is a vastly more cost effective way of reducing driveline inertial moment and overall weight PLUS you get the added benefit of reducing unsprung weight.



Sent using the protocol module of my R2 unit.

Excellent comment. I am saving up for a set of track wheels and tires. The wheels is where you will feel the biggest difference due to the reduction in unsprung weight. Unfortunately, finding a set of light weight track/race wheels with the 350R dimensions is almost impossible.

 

[icormba]

Excellent comment. I am saving up for a set of track wheels and tires. The wheels is where you will feel the biggest difference due to the reduction in unsprung weight. Unfortunately, finding a set of light weight track/race wheels with the 350R dimensions is almost impossible.

a little lighter...

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36511

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