[TT_6SPD_95]

I called the driveshaft shop and talked with Frank out there, he seemed very knowledgeable. He said that since Supra driveshafts don't break very often he has not gotten a tremendous amount done in that car.

He has tested out the strongest aluminum available and has done testing on it but it broke after about 50 cycles. The problem lies where the Supra has a direct bolt on to the transmission instead of the driveshaft sliding into the tranny. That means that the slide deal has to be built in the driveshaft and that is where all the weight comes from.

His next project is going to be trying to build a 3.25 inch aluminum driveshaft for the Supra and if he can get it done we will have a driveshaft that will only be about 11lbs compared to the stock weight of 20lbs!!! That would be very cool. Everyone needs to call them and say that they need one so it will motivate him more to do one....if not really that many people want one than he really has no reason to hurry up and design it.

What he has right now is a chromoly driveshaft that will hold all the power and is only a couple lbs lighter but also eliminates the carrier bearing in the center, which will transfer more power after eliminating this piece. He also has a replacement for the rear rubber piece that bolts to the rear end...you don't have to replace this but he says that if you are making over 1000hp that stock piece won't last very long. Also, I think this replacement piece will transfer more power because it won't be moving back all the time during load transfers.

I am still not exactly sure what I am going to do but the chromoly driveshaft is $400 and the end piece is $200. He said that the end piece is so high because of the time that is in building one of those. He said also that he can have a driveshaft made within 2 days.

Just thought that everyone might like to know that about their Supra driveshaft system.

 

[TT_6SPD_95]

BTW...that slider in the center is also why the carbon fiber driveshaft is only 2 lbs lighter than stock. That slider has to be made out of steel in order to not break.

 

[jeremy haakonso]

sounds very promising!!! if this guy could make a driveshaft that saves 9 lbs and still have the same strength and durability of the stock unit, i would be really interested in buying one. i'm sure many other people would be interested also, keep us posted

 

[TT_6SPD_95]

sounds very promising!!! if this guy could make a driveshaft that saves 9 lbs and still have the same strength and durability of the stock unit, i would be really interested in buying one. i'm sure many other people would be interested also, keep us posted

Yea, I think if like 7 or 8 of us all bought them the price would be lowered and he would actually get on it and do the design since he will know there is a market for them.

How many people are actually interested in this sort of thing on here?

 

[deavenly1]

Tony, out here in ca, There is a little place called inland empire drive line. They are pretty well known to the high powered domestic guy's and are doing a lot of import stuff now also, I talked to them and they say they have done several for 2jz's and no breakage. They quoted me like 3xx.00 and that's in aluminum. I will look for the # if your interested.

 

[TT_6SPD_95]

Tony, out here in ca, There is a little place called inland empire drive line. They are pretty well known to the high powered domestic guy's and are doing a lot of import stuff now also, I talked to them and they say they have done several for 2jz's and no breakage. They quoted me like 3xx.00 and that's in aluminum. I will look for the # if your interested.

Kick ASS!!! Yes, please get me the number. Thanks.

 

[jeremy haakonso]

any updates about the driveshaft tony????

 

[V8THIS]

I've always wondered...... what exactly is the purpose for that universal joint in the center of the driveshaft?


-Mike

I called the driveshaft shop and talked with Frank out there, he seemed very knowledgeable. He said that since Supra driveshafts don't break very often he has not gotten a tremendous amount done in that car.

He has tested out the strongest aluminum available and has done testing on it but it broke after about 50 cycles. The problem lies where the Supra has a direct bolt on to the transmission instead of the driveshaft sliding into the tranny. That means that the slide deal has to be built in the driveshaft and that is where all the weight comes from.

His next project is going to be trying to build a 3.25 inch aluminum driveshaft for the Supra and if he can get it done we will have a driveshaft that will only be about 11lbs compared to the stock weight of 20lbs!!! That would be very cool. Everyone needs to call them and say that they need one so it will motivate him more to do one....if not really that many people want one than he really has no reason to hurry up and design it.

What he has right now is a chromoly driveshaft that will hold all the power and is only a couple lbs lighter but also eliminates the carrier bearing in the center, which will transfer more power after eliminating this piece. He also has a replacement for the rear rubber piece that bolts to the rear end...you don't have to replace this but he says that if you are making over 1000hp that stock piece won't last very long. Also, I think this replacement piece will transfer more power because it won't be moving back all the time during load transfers.

I am still not exactly sure what I am going to do but the chromoly driveshaft is $400 and the end piece is $200. He said that the end piece is so high because of the time that is in building one of those. He said also that he can have a driveshaft made within 2 days.

Just thought that everyone might like to know that about their Supra driveshaft system.

 

[Javeman]

i'm interested in purchasing a driveshaft if they work.

 

[jeremy haakonso]

i'm sure you could get at LEAST 7 or 8 people to buy the driveshaft if it saves that kind of weight and is still reliable. any word yet about the driveshaft?

 

[TT_6SPD_95]

I called the driveline shop or whatever it was from the previous post but the guy their didn't want to make a aluminum driveshaft in thinking that it would break with any serious hp because he had to make the slide deal into it like a 4wd driveshaft. The only hope so far on the really lightweight piece is with another driveshaft shop but that won't be for several months away unless I can maybe tell him for sure that there would be several people interested.

Well, so far the chromoly for $400 and the ACPT carbon fiber for $1300-$1500. Both will save about 2-3lbs...that is what is expected from both manufacturers, but both eliminate the center carrier bearing which would probably boost power somewhat but probably not very much. BTW...this is what 300zx's do as the "usual", eliminate the carrier bearing. They say that they don't have any problems with it. There is a local 300zx guy that did the carbon fiber (he made 515rwhp on the dyno) one on his and saved like 15lbs or so, but his slide deal slides into the tranny and doesn't have to be made on the driveshaft like ours does. That is why we don't get much weight savings, but we can eliminate the center bearing and get a little weight savings as well.

If the carbon fiber is only 2-3lbs of weight savings I am not sure I would want to go with that, I would more want to go with the chromoly one for $400. If we can get 7-8 people to buy that one, we might be able to get it cheaper too.

 

[jeremy haakonso]

how much power do they estimate removing the carrier bearing will add?

 

[Javeman]

what did he say the use of the center carrier bearing is for?
if there is no slider between the tranny and diff.... what kind of side effects will eliminating the center carrier bearing cause?

 

[deavenly1]

Tony, Sorry I didn't get back sooner, i haven't checked the site in a couple of day's. here is the #.909-390-3030. Let me know what you think, I will go ahead and get mine done to, I think they need one to go off anyway's, (Length, Ect.)

 

[TT_6SPD_95]

what did he say the use of the center carrier bearing is for?
if there is no slider between the tranny and diff.... what kind of side effects will eliminating the center carrier bearing cause?

Their will still be a slider in the driveshaft. The operation will be the same. They say the slider is supposed to be for elimination of noise, but they say going to a one piece is elimination of noise in itself. A buddy of mine eliminated his center carrier bearing in his 300zx and he doesn't notice anymore noise than before. I will have to find out a little more about this. As far as hp increase by eliminating this...don't know.

 

[jeremy haakonso]

Tony, Sorry I didn't get back sooner, i haven't checked the site in a couple of day's. here is the #.909-390-3030. Let me know what you think, I will go ahead and get mine done to, I think they need one to go off anyway's, (Length, Ect.)

you say that this shop has done aluminum driveshafts for the supras before. what kind of weight savings do they say can be seen with this one over the stock driveshaft? i'm very interested, and if the weight savings is 7 lbs or more i would most likely buy one too.

 

[NewZ]

For the record (and i'm sure you all know this but...)

Replacing your drive shaft with a lighter one doesn't physically produce more HP.

It does, however, reduce the rotational mass of the drive train.

This reduces the parasitic loss (power robbed since more weight = more work to turn) and lets you use more of the power you already have.

It's letting you keep more of what's already yours.

Just a friendly heads up incase those damn LS1 guys start trolling around.

Alan

 

[TT_6SPD_95]

Their will still be a slider in the driveshaft. The operation will be the same. They say the slider is supposed to be for elimination of noise, but they say going to a one piece is elimination of noise in itself. A buddy of mine eliminated his center carrier bearing in his 300zx and he doesn't notice anymore noise than before. I will have to find out a little more about this. As far as hp increase by eliminating this...don't know.

Just noticed that I made a mistake when writing this....when I said the slider is an elimination for noise I was actually talking about the center carrier bearing, sorry for the confusion.

 

[2JZFAN]

The CF ones are 12-14lbs... thats 8-6lbs. lightier..?\

This sounds good by the way, will he be able to make a CF version?

 

[Xdreamer]

is the driveshaft the same for non-turbo? If so im ivery interested . Give me some info what ioptions i have.

I have a 93.5 mkiv n/a auto supra

Thanks Brett

Does any one know if baer is making the aerospeed rotors for the supra? They are suppose to reduce upsprung weight by something like 5-10lbs at each wheel.