lightweight drive shaft?

mustangmat99 said:

i was wondering, will a lightweight drive shaft do any good on my v6? a freind of mine, who thinks hes a big car wizz, says the lightweight ones only work if u exceed 120 before it matters if its lightweight or not, is that true or no? after a few mods i plan on doing before the shaft, i should be up to about 200 or so at the rear, so will a light weight drive shaft let the horses get to the rear easier and increase them? or will it just be a waste of money?

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A lot of people debate the subject, but as someone who actually HAS one, I'll tell you that its not really a noticeably boost in hp, not that many bolt-ons are, but I also added Subframe connectors at the same time so that added a little weight and probably minimized gain a little. My car is definately a little bit smoother now, however, and I'd guess there is a LITTLE gain, at least based on my dyno numbers but who knows. I put down ~170whp @ 5300* with just the Aluminum D/S, K&N Filter, and Duals, so I would think that is significantly better than your typical Filter and Exhaust V6. So there's my experience. Would I do it again? Maybe, but I'd probably put it into U/D pulleys first since that would be a similarly priced mod. But it DID do something, as opposed to what some may say, I just wouldn't say its the BEST mod out there by any means.

You wont see much difference.

The aluminum D/S is my latest modification and I'll be honest, the gains from that alone won't be all that incredible. Frankly, the chances of you feeling any differences in horses is low but technically it will help you a little down low.

Your ride will be a little smoother, but I wouldn't advise doing this mod until you do a rear-end and t-lok swap. That's what I did.

The main thing about the aluminum driveshaft is that it is a lighter unit that is perfectly balanced. When you change gear ratios to say 3.73's or greater you get noticeable gear whine. The balanced drive shaft helps eliminate that whine and cut down on the rotaing mass of your stock driveshaft to free up some rpms. You don't however gain any horsepower by adding the aluminum piece. The down side to swiching to a lighter weight driveshaft or flywheel is that cutting down on rotating mass also cuts down on torque power. Not much but a little. Everything you do the your vechicle has give or take properties.