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Looking into a new driveshaft for my ls swapped g body.
I currently have a 3" shaft (48" long center to center) a local truck place made but I believe is causing vibrations.
Over 70 its starts vibration and gets pretty bad up over 100. The intensity of the vibration phases in and out and it feels like its coming from back by the pinion area while driving the car. My car has a t56 and 4.30 gears.
I put a dial indicator on the shaft and towards the rear of the shaft there is .018" run out. They do have weights on it like it was balanced, but I'm not sure how fast the spin the shafts there to balance them. Probably not very fast, its a heavy duty truck shop.
I'm currently looking at either Dennys nitrous ready 3.5" steel shaft with 1350 joints, or his aluminum 3.5" with 1350 joints. I like that I have heard the aluminum is less likely to vibrate and is lighter, but I want something that wont get tweaked out of shape with 5k rpm clutch dumps on slicks.
Is there a better option then the Dennys, or am I on the right track? would the 3.5" aluminum be more then safe for 430-450 rwhp with a 6 speed and 4.30 gears or should I stick to steel?
If I knew Your HP and weight I could make a suggestion to help You. For Your application I would encourage You to look at PST. They have a nice website...
Looking into a new driveshaft for my ls swapped g body.
I currently have a 3" shaft (48" long center to center) a local truck place made but I believe is causing vibrations.
Over 70 its starts vibration and gets pretty bad up over 100. The intensity of the vibration phases in and out and it feels like its coming from back by the pinion area while driving the car. My car has a t56 and 4.30 gears.
I put a dial indicator on the shaft and towards the rear of the shaft there is .018" run out. They do have weights on it like it was balanced, but I'm not sure how fast the spin the shafts there to balance them. Probably not very fast, its a heavy duty truck shop.
I'm currently looking at either Dennys nitrous ready 3.5" steel shaft with 1350 joints, or his aluminum 3.5" with 1350 joints. I like that I have heard the aluminum is less likely to vibrate and is lighter, but I want something that wont get tweaked out of shape with 5k rpm clutch dumps on slicks.
Is there a better option then the Dennys, or am I on the right track? would the 3.5" aluminum be more then safe for 430-450 rwhp with a 6 speed and 4.30 gears or should I stick to steel?
This would be my suggestion and our most commonly sold drive shaft in heavier high HP F-Body's. Like always free shipping on all PST driveshafts from us and comes with a Sonnax C/M yoke at no extra charge.
My best guess would be my car weight 3600-3700 with me in it. Also havnt had the car on a dyno, but at the local test and tune at the track this spring on 275/40/17 drag radials the car ran over 94 mph every pass. ls2 with fast 102/ 1 7/8" longtubes 3" mandrel bent duals. ms3 cam. based off other similar ls2's with same cam Im guessing 430 hp range.
Im liking the price of the pst shafts. Are these shafts high speed balanced also like the dennys?
My t56 was just rebuilt and so was the rear axle. I ran the car on jack stands with no wheels and tires on the back and took the brake drums off and the vibration stayed the same. The only thing I can think of causing the vibration is the shaft or the output bushing in the tailhousing of the t56 as I can wiggle the yoke around some, But the yoke has as much or more play on my daily driver truck so I'm leaning toward the shaft.
A 3.5" is a bit of overkill for Your car but it can also provide plenty of growing room if You plan to add quite a bit of power.
The Strange slip yokes for the T56 have been re-designed to eliminate the poor fit they once had and to date none of the new ones have caused any problems for My customers.
Get Your best price and call 316-299-8427 so I can show You how to save money on the proper driveshaft.
Don't play with a good old boy driveshaft. I had a high dollar 727 torque flight get shook apart in my low 10 second Valiant in the mid 90's because of the "best driveshaft shop in Victoria TX" did one for me. San Antonio Brake and Clutch built a great one after that for the car. I'd let you test with my extra one that came with my Mid West Chassis 9" if you were closer. I have a 3.5" aluminum dynotech in mine right now.
I'd buy a new one from Carl or Mid West in your situation. Both know their business not that Denny's doesn't have a good rep but you see who replies to your questions on here.
I'll end up getting one of these shafts, the pricing is better then Dennys.
I would rather get a shaft thats too big so I dont have to buy another one.
I am already on my second shaft from this drive shaft place.
I was getting a vibration from the first one they built me that was stock 2.75" diameter, took it back and told me I hurt it. has .022" runout at on end and in the middle, .030" run out at the other end. So they built me this 3" dom shaft. Looks nice and appears to be strong but vibrates.
My best guess would be my car weight 3600-3700 with me in it. Also havnt had the car on a dyno, but at the local test and tune at the track this spring on 275/40/17 drag radials the car ran over 94 mph every pass. ls2 with fast 102/ 1 7/8" longtubes 3" mandrel bent duals. ms3 cam. based off other similar ls2's with same cam Im guessing 430 hp range.
Im liking the price of the pst shafts. Are these shafts high speed balanced also like the dennys?
My t56 was just rebuilt and so was the rear axle. I ran the car on jack stands with no wheels and tires on the back and took the brake drums off and the vibration stayed the same. The only thing I can think of causing the vibration is the shaft or the output bushing in the tailhousing of the t56 as I can wiggle the yoke around some, But the yoke has as much or more play on my daily driver truck so I'm leaning toward the shaft.
PST does high speed balance their shafts, only way to go and the only time we have had vibration issues is with other yokes with the T-56. We won't even sell a Strange yoke for the T-56 still to this date because we still seen issues.
When you sell multiple driveshafts a day for multiple years you get a lot of data on what is best to use.
Now granted the PST 3" steel driveshaft would work for your application. PST DRS3 - 3″ X083″ DOM
Like always we should be able to beat anyone's prices if you find a better price than our advertised price.
Is my current driveshaft too short,and could that be contributing to the vibrations.
2 3/8" engagement on the output shaft.
1/14" yoke sticking out from the end of the output shaft in the trans.
I checked my pinion angle and the trans is pointed down 4* and the pinion is up 3.5*, all measurements were done at ride height. A half of a degree on the pinion angle shouldnt cause any vibes right? if anything under load the pinion angle should come up close to the same 4*.
Is my current driveshaft too short,and could that be contributing to the vibrations.
2 3/8" engagement on the output shaft.
1/14" yoke sticking out from the end of the output shaft in the trans.
I checked my pinion angle and the trans is pointed down 4* and the pinion is up 3.5*, all measurements were done at ride height. A half of a degree on the pinion angle shouldnt cause any vibes right? if anything under load the pinion angle should come up close to the same 4*.
The way I check a trans yoke for proper engagement is to slide it in until it bottoms out, make a mark on the yoke then put the back of the driveshaft into the pinion yoke and make another mark on the trans yoke to see how much it is away from being bottomed out. Please post that dimension on here.
I have also had an issue with a gbody that had worn bushing on the uppers which can contribute to problems and is an easy fix while searching for Your vibration.
Thank You,
Carl
Edit: I just read this and realized how confusing My post was, if You have issues understanding that it isn't you. Ask what You don't follow and I will try providing a better description.
Carl
Last edited by Carl at CRP; 11-19-2016 at 06:47 PM.
Reason: confusing explanation
I'll try measuring it that way tomorrow, But I was able to slide the yoke into the trans until it hit the the seal, that puts 1 1/4" yoke sticking out past the out put shaft of the trans.
The output shaft is flush with the seal, 5/8" sticking out of the trans housing.
My car has all poly bushings and tubular control arms, adjustable uppers.
It appears you have a oem type TH350 yoke, and it is most likely your issue. 1.25" of slip is on the higher end of what we like to see but probably isn't your problem.
Using a caliper or micrometer measure your yoke OD where the seal rides and send me a message with your info. I'm sure we can get you fixed up.
The slip yoke is the original to my car, 1986 monte carlo ss with the 2004r. I can see where the seal originally rode on this yoke and it makes me think my driveshaft is 1/2" to short.
Does the t56 take a different yoke then the th350 style? I thought they were both gm 27 spline? I'll get a measurement with a caliper.
When i slide the slip yoke another half inch into the trans, it seems to have noticeably less up and down play.
don't overlook run out on the rear axle pinion yoke,
and also check your rear end center - you measured your drive shaft angles in the vertical dimension and have it within a half a degree but don't forget we live in a 3 dimensional world... if the rear end is off center X degrees horizontally then that will put the u-joints out of phase at each end and cause vibes just the same.
I went with a Mark Williams driveshaft and yokes for my 01 Camaro http://www.markwilliams.com/. I took out a steel driveshaft that was most likely what killed my transmission from previous owner it was a hack job install from some shop. But the Aluminum driveshaft I just got a month ago was a work of art from Mark Williams!! I went with the 3-1/2" 6061 Accu-Bond Driveshaft that meets SFI 43.1 specifications that is required for NHRA pro stock and competition eliminator classes. Yeah I know it was total overkill but could not be more happy with the attention to detail and amazing quality from these guys!!
A few cool things about the Accu-bond driveshafts is that they are made to order not on a shelf waiting for a close enough measurements order. There are NO welds on the driveshaft since they use a patented bonding process and they have everything in-house ready for every driveshaft (yokes, u-joints, clips, bolts, ect..). Every driveshaft is balanced and tested with YOKES installed so you get a true balance, I think they are the only ones that do this process. Plus you get a certificate listing the testing results which is cool and a nice piece of mind.
I went with a Mark Williams driveshaft and yokes for my 01 Camaro http://www.markwilliams.com/. I took out a steel driveshaft that was most likely what killed my transmission from previous owner it was a hack job install from some shop. But the Aluminum driveshaft I just got a month ago was a work of art from Mark Williams!! I went with the 3-1/2" 6061 Accu-Bond Driveshaft that meets SFI 43.1 specifications that is required for NHRA pro stock and competition eliminator classes. Yeah I know it was total overkill but could not be more happy with the attention to detail and amazing quality from these guys!!
A few cool things about the Accu-bond driveshafts is that they are made to order not on a shelf waiting for a close enough measurements order. There are NO welds on the driveshaft since they use a patented bonding process and they have everything in-house ready for every driveshaft (yokes, u-joints, clips, bolts, ect..). Every driveshaft is balanced and tested with YOKES installed so you get a true balance, I think they are the only ones that do this process. Plus you get a certificate listing the testing results which is cool and a nice piece of mind.
That is a valid point Sir, I don't think anyone will have a bad word about any of Mark Williams products they are top drawer. The only issue I ever had is their steering wheel dis-connect had splines so fine it took quite a while to get it aligned and back on the steering column.
That has since been changed and that must have been 15 to 18 years ago.
I went with a Mark Williams driveshaft and yokes for my 01 Camaro http://www.markwilliams.com/. I took out a steel driveshaft that was most likely what killed my transmission from previous owner it was a hack job install from some shop. But the Aluminum driveshaft I just got a month ago was a work of art from Mark Williams!! I went with the 3-1/2" 6061 Accu-Bond Driveshaft that meets SFI 43.1 specifications that is required for NHRA pro stock and competition eliminator classes. Yeah I know it was total overkill but could not be more happy with the attention to detail and amazing quality from these guys!!
A few cool things about the Accu-bond driveshafts is that they are made to order not on a shelf waiting for a close enough measurements order. There are NO welds on the driveshaft since they use a patented bonding process and they have everything in-house ready for every driveshaft (yokes, u-joints, clips, bolts, ect..). Every driveshaft is balanced and tested with YOKES installed so you get a true balance, I think they are the only ones that do this process. Plus you get a certificate listing the testing results which is cool and a nice piece of mind.
That thing is a work of art! Its a little more then I'm looking to spend right now unfortunately.
11-17-2016, 03:28 PM
Driveshaft recommendation 
