DSS 1 piece Carbon Fiber Driveshaft

9188 Views 30 Replies 14 Participants Last post by WhitehotSTL, Mar 10, 2016

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · Mar 17, 2015 (Edited)

4

When I did my clutch a few months back I noticed my drive shaft was getting a little sloppy, the slip joint was a bit loose and making a clunking noise in the front half of the two piece shaft. I began looking around at options and settled on the DSS 1-piece Carbon Fiber Shaft.

It is a great piece with a CV joint in front and a Universal in the rear. I was able to reuse both heat shields (although I did have to trim and modify the rear shield to avoid potential interference issues. The DSS design uses Aluminum adapter plates that are true works of art and work great replacing the old rubber discs.

Driving the car is quite a bit quieter than the stock setup.. Probably due to the better balanced shaft and the lack of the center bearing being bolted to the mid tunnel area.

I did have to space the rear shaft forward a bit (5/64") to avoid a interference between the nuts on the rear of the adapter and the rear sub-frame - It was just touching from full dig and the shift to second at full throttle. The spacers got rid of it. I plan to give the DSS a call to let them know of the issue.

EDIT - After calling the DSS - It turns out my interference issue at the rear yoke was caused by the wrong bolts being sent. DSS sent me the correct shorter bolts and then with the nuts eliminated from the rear (the yoke is threaded) there was no spacing issues.

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HKYStormFront

· #2 · Mar 17, 2015

I want to do this as well. Their shop is not far from me and I'm growing more and more suspicious of my carrier bearing. Glad to hear you had a good experience with them, as well as that they do offer the CF shaft for manuals which is not listed on their website.

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 17, 2015

It is there on their site.. make sure you look for the additional pages of items, I think it came up on page two.

HKYStormFront

· #4 · Mar 17, 2015

Ah ok, well when I looked a while back, I didn't see it. Maybe they've added it since then. For what it's worth, I've talked to several shops in NC that use DSS and they all said they had nothing but the best of service from them.

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 17, 2015

I ended up ordering the drivechaft from DWS parts in Dallas, TX.. They had the best deal. DSS wouldn't match their price, saying their dealers get the best prices and if they decide to pass that on to you - go for it. You could probably order from DWS and pick it up yourself..

GXPaycheck

· #6 · Mar 18, 2015

I like it!

tazmaniac

· #7 · Mar 18, 2015

What are the benefits of this setup??? besides weight.

WhitehotSTL

· #8 · Mar 18, 2015

Any idea what the weight difference was?

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 19, 2015

The advertised weight of the new shaft is 20lbs.. I would say that is about right. I will get around to weighing the bits that came off someday, two steel shafts,two rubber couplers and center carrier bearing, it all adds up.

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 19, 2015

tazmaniac said:
What are the benefits of this setup??? besides weight.

You get to lose the rubber couplers, lose the center carrier bearing attached directly to the underbody - now the driveline is a direct link from the trans output to the differential both of which are more isolated from the cabin body's sheetmetal.

The carbon fiber does a couple of things, allows for lighter weight, has some ability to absorb shock loading and allows for the long single shaft to have a very high critical speed.. I think the DSS lists 240 mph.

DSS also really work on the high speed balance of the shaft.. It is smooth as silk to over 100 (quick trip to Mexico)

STAGEUP

· #11 · Mar 19, 2015

I dont think the stock shaft is that heavy to begin with, maybe 15 lbs or so. Add another 4 lbs or so for both couplers maybe. So the biggest gain in this mod would have to be strength, and less noise.

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 20, 2015

After weighing all the bits that came off, the Carbon Fiber looks to be about 1-2lbs lighter.

camopaint0707

· #13 · Mar 20, 2015

how much was this?

jackswhitegxp

· #14 · Mar 20, 2015

Why did you go with the carbon fiber vs the aluminum shaft? Just curious based on the pricing of the 2.

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 20, 2015

jackswhitegxp said:
Why did you go with the carbon fiber vs the aluminum shaft? Just curious based on the pricing of the 2.

Mostly due to the critical speed limitations of the aluminum single piece shaft.. I am not saying I will ever get to run the Mohave Mile or something similar, but I wanted to have the option.

Aluminium CS - 150mph max
CarbonFiber CS - 240mph max

hayabusa160

· #16 · Mar 23, 2015

I need this lol. im tired of the clunking from mine

STAGEUP

· #17 · Mar 23, 2015

Have you noticed any resonance with this new 1 piece shaft? Curious.

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #18 · Mar 23, 2015

STAGEUP said:
Have you noticed any resonance with this new 1 piece shaft? Curious.

None, even my wife noticed less noise and vibration. My MGW shifter has always been less prone to vibration than what most report, but now no buzzing in the center console or rear vents at all.

I have not found any spot of resonance in any of the road speeds I have tried so far.. And here in SoCal we get a pretty good range on our daily commute.

2lazy4agoodname

· #19 · Jan 15, 2016

Any update after almost a year of driving with it?

JonRobbinSS

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jan 15, 2016

No issues..

It turns out my interference issue at the rear yoke was caused by the wrong bolts being sent. DSS sent me the correct shorter bolts and then with the nuts eliminated from the rear (the yoke is threaded) there was no spacing issues and the thing has been completely trouble free.

No regrets.

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