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One piece driveshafts

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I'd like the weight reduction of a a one piece drive shaft.

1. I do not want any increased nvh, is it likely to increase or decrease nvh?

2. I have the roush springs and bilstein b8 shocks so it's about an inch lower than stock with factory UCA and factory LCA. I do not want to install adjustables as I want to keep the rubber bushings. Would a one piece be ok without adjusting the position of the rear axle?
 
Hard to say, it may or may not be withing specs, you can measure the tailshaft of the trans and compare it to what the diff pinion angle, in most cases you want about 3 or so degrees down for soft bushings at the pinion. Most aftermarket driveshafts have u-joints which need to be set in a specific pinion angle. The OEM I believe use CV style joints which are more forgiving. I noticed no nvh when I installed my driveshaft and it made the acceleration smoother and quicker if that makes sense I guess by getting rid of any deflection in the steady bearing. I used an adjustable upper and set my pinion angle to about 1.5 degrees down with a poly and spherical combo. Seems to be good so far.
 
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the one piece aluminum or carbon driveshaft is not big and round like a flywheel. In fact a pretty small diamter. Did you really notice better acceleration like having a lightened flywheel?clutch? Besides weight reduction at the best place in the car low and centered what else do you get?
 
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My one piece aluminum driveshaft gave me much less NVH than the stock two piece. Since I was tracking the car, I did put an adjustable UCA on the car with Prothane bushings and lowering brackets for the LCA mounts to the rear axle and set the proper pinion angle. Pinion angle is important, so you may want to think about the overall package vs just changing out the driveshaft. But as it has been stated, a very good mod.
 
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My 2019 gt racecar is 3.5” lower than stock between the 18” wheels and lowering by coil overs. does the pinion angle automatically change? Are there tricks to getting the pinion angle right?
 
My 2019 gt racecar is 3.5” lower than stock between the 18” wheels and lowering by coil overs. does the pinion angle automatically change? Are there tricks to getting the pinion angle right?

On an s550 the angle doesn't change when lowering, so all that would need to be done is check it, but if needed I'm not sure how to adjust it on those since the diff is mounted to the subframe and is fixed. Most of the info above is for the s197 with a live axle. I guess we assumed the op has a 197 but he may have a 550.
 
1,163
2,121
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
SoCal
My 2019 gt racecar is 3.5” lower than stock between the 18” wheels and lowering by coil overs. does the pinion angle automatically change? Are there tricks to getting the pinion angle right?

With independent rear suspension, your differential housing is fixed in the IRS subframe - pinion angle won’t change with ride height changes.
 
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On an s550 the angle doesn't change when lowering, so all that would need to be done is check it, but if needed I'm not sure how to adjust it on those since the diff is mounted to the subframe and is fixed.

that is what I was thinking it’s fixed. I’m not sure why there would be a s550 pinion angle issue unless Ford was lazy again and kludged their axle instead of precisely placing the diff and the motor? Ford does lots of dumb stuff. Is it known that the s550 angles are wrong for 1 piece driveshaft?
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
I'd like the weight reduction of a a one piece drive shaft.

1. I do not want any increased nvh, is it likely to increase or decrease nvh?

2. I have the roush springs and bilstein b8 shocks so it's about an inch lower than stock with factory UCA and factory LCA. I do not want to install adjustables as I want to keep the rubber bushings. Would a one piece be ok without adjusting the position of the rear axle?

Looks like OP has an S197 from his/her factory UCA & LCA comment.

Yes, a 1 piece Aluminum DS is a must have upgrade & will shave off many pounds of rotating mass (weight).

I would recommend the 3.5” DS from Ford Performance. It’s a direct bolt in assembly & you’ll be fine with your Pinion Angle.

Next, to eliminate the wheel hop on WOT standing starts, replace the Factory LCA’s with the Ford Performance tubular units.

You’ll love the results.
 
Looks like OP has an S197 from his/her factory UCA & LCA comment.

Yes, a 1 piece Aluminum DS is a must have upgrade & will shave off many pounds of rotating mass (weight).

I would recommend the 3.5” DS from Ford Performance. It’s a direct bolt in assembly & you’ll be fine with your Pinion Angle.

Next, to eliminate the wheel hop on WOT standing starts, replace the Factory LCA’s with the Ford Performance tubular units.

You’ll love the results.

I can't do the LCA. I had installed whiteline lca and uca. The lca caused the loud whine from the 3.73 to be audible at 60mph plus. I added sound insulation to try and get rid of the noise (which I'm actually removing today) and the only thing that removed the noise was going back to track pack lca with rubber bushings.

I also went back to factory uca, front and rear sway bars just for the rubber bushings. The ride was too rough and loud for the road, that's why I checking before upgrading certain parts, no nvh for me.
 
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I don't think you'll see much difference in rotating mass since it's a really small circle, not like a flywheel. The biggest take away is less weight overall in the driveline and a couple less u joints to break. That being said, the 8.8 is a noisy diff, and some of that will translate up into the trans tunnel. If you really want to find some vibration mount the shifter solid to the trans.
 

xr7

TMO Addict?
708
823
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Minnesota
I don't think you'll see much difference in rotating mass since it's a really small circle, not like a flywheel. The biggest take away is less weight overall in the driveline and a couple less u joints to break. That being said, the 8.8 is a noisy diff, and some of that will translate up into the trans tunnel. If you really want to find some vibration mount the shifter solid to the trans.
I like the feel that comes thru a shifter bolted directly to the trans. Knowing the vibrations tells you what's going on.
 

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