Stranger in the Black Sedan
10-24-2008, 10:29 AM
I still have a 3.5" 0.065" wall mild steel driveshaft that I had custom made for my MM, cost over $325 including the new slip yoke on it. I used the shaft for about 500 miles. It is a complete ready to use shaft that includes a new Ford OE slip yoke (with the damper! Not one of the cheap aftermarket slip yokes that omits the important damper), new rear swivel joint, and new Brute Force solid u joints w/ permenant synthetic grease. Shaft is painted aluminum to appear stock. The critical speed is the same as the stock shaft, about 6500 rpms (Although it is heavier than the AL shaft, the steel is also a lot stronger). I think when I did the math, the torque to yield on this steel shaft was around 1600 lbft.
Please get this thing out of my garage! If you are building an insanely powerful MM, this shaft will be waaaay stronger than an aluminum or aluminum composite shaft, and have a comparable critical speed. Yes it's heavier but this thing is super strong and a low priced alternative to something exotic.
I built this shaft just to test a theory I had about steel vs aluminum transmitting acoustic noise from the rear diff (the end result of my experiment was no difference, I was trying to get around having to buy another gear set since my first set of Ford gears did not run quiet even when set up right. When I get crazy ideas I spend a ton of money sometimes) But in the process I had a very well balanced (spun at 4500 rpms on the machine), extremely strong direct-fit, low cost driveshaft built for one MM.
$150 + actual shipping cost
Shaft was built by Drivelines Services in Lorton, VA
Please get this thing out of my garage! If you are building an insanely powerful MM, this shaft will be waaaay stronger than an aluminum or aluminum composite shaft, and have a comparable critical speed. Yes it's heavier but this thing is super strong and a low priced alternative to something exotic.
I built this shaft just to test a theory I had about steel vs aluminum transmitting acoustic noise from the rear diff (the end result of my experiment was no difference, I was trying to get around having to buy another gear set since my first set of Ford gears did not run quiet even when set up right. When I get crazy ideas I spend a ton of money sometimes) But in the process I had a very well balanced (spun at 4500 rpms on the machine), extremely strong direct-fit, low cost driveshaft built for one MM.
$150 + actual shipping cost
Shaft was built by Drivelines Services in Lorton, VA