I `m wondering who is still running a factory Maverick/Comet driveshaft in a car they run at the track with,and how fast they are running with it? To me they look like thsy would twist up pretty easily if used in a hard launching car. I plan to get one of the Ford Racing Aluminum shafts they sell for the Fox (5.0) Mustangs eventually.
i stil use the stock driveshaft. so far i've been in the 12.8's with it and no problems. i do use a c-4 with 3500 stall so i'm not too hard on it off the line.
high 10's with the stocker, since then switched to the FRPP alum. one.. only thing ya gotta do is switch the U-joint on the rear
same here, 2600 lb Mav, went 9.02 in the 1000', 6.90 1/8 and 1.44 in the 60' with the stocker. Speed kills driveshafts, not torque. That's why they always seem to come out at the "far" end of the strip.
the shaft Problem is usually the u joints are to weak. Get a "GOOD" set of u joints and have the shaft balanced.
One of the guys I race with from my work runs a back halfed 68 Camaro with a 6-71 blown 472 Chevy. (read into this - more money in motor than I have in my car, trailer, pick-up truck, and half the tools in my garage) Last year he twisted up a drive shaft as he pulled traction out of the burn out box. Thing looked like an old barbers pole. First one I've ever seen do that. The bad thing was that the shock of the shaft letting go cracked the case on his transmission. He basically salvaged the converter, tailshaft, transbrake and valve body and rolled a $1500 transmission out into the rain for junk. He just chalked it up to the cost of "runnin' with the big dogs" mavman has a point on the speed thing. There is a limit on the rotational speed of a driveshaft and the longer the shaft - the lower the speed limit is. This is why long wheelbase trucks and buses have multiple shafts - to shorten the shaft to gain rotational speed limit. I'm only running high 8's in the 1/8 and I blew out 2 stock rear u-joints. They really didn't blow out ---I felt a vibration at the end of the track and when I inspected the driveshaft found that the rear u-joint was getting sloppy. The last time this happened I took a big tube shaft from a 88 5.0 T-bird that I had to the machine shop and had it shortened and balanced with high strength u-joints. It only cost me $100 and I haven't had to fool with it since. Cleaver
When I redid my Sprint a few years ago I just went to the local driveshaft place (A1 Drivshafts) and told them to make me one that will handle 450 rwhp, knowing I was only going to be around 300. Only cost $210.
I did the same thing Dennis did. They are not that costly when considering what one could do to the bottom of the car or tranny or whatever..........just please whatever any of you guys do...invest in a driveshaft loop.
I'm using a stock 5L driveshaft in place of my org 6cyl shaft and have had no trouble at all...but it only runs 12.20's in the quarter.
I went 7.40's in the 1/8th mile with the stock driveshaft. Later switched to an aluminum one from Inland Empire.
why did that driveshaft twist coming out of the burnout box? Because the shaft was most likely turning nearly the speed of the engine (minus converter slippage) and was most likely on the ragged edge anyway. Truth be told, I don't ever remember seeing the DRIVESHAFT fail at launch or burnout....usually on that end of the track it's the u-joints that fail. Remember, if the driveshaft is .001" bent (which is more common than you think) than it will eventually find it's limit at a certain speed. The faster you spin it, the more "bent" it gets due to centrifugal force & inertia. The only driveshaft I've seen fail due to torque being applied was a Cement truck shaft that the driver left the brakes applied and even then, it snapped the slip yoke, not the driveshaft itself. That slip yoke was about 4" diameter, roughly 8 or 10 splines and SOLID. That took some real torque! Ask any good driveline shop what the most common failure with a driveshaft (aside from U-joints) is....you'll get the same answer every time.
