Carbon Fiber Driveshaft

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

What extra maintenance does a ball spline require over a slip yoke?

You need to keep the ball bearings clean and greased. A regular slip yoke stays a lot cleaner, IMO.

[PushinTheLimit]

Gotcha... thanks!

[powerslide]

I said it in the other thread say it in this one too. We had one back in 03 and i took it apart after about 15 races and cleaned/greased it. It has a rubber seal and i didnt ever see any dirt in it. I agree one should not run a Ball spline w/o the CF shaft unless you like playing russian roulette.

[fastford]

I said it in the other thread say it in this one too. We had one back in 03 and i took it apart after about 15 races and cleaned/greased it. It has a rubber seal and i didnt ever see any dirt in it. I agree one should not run a Ball spline w/o the CF shaft unless you like playing russian roulette.

didn't you also say you don't run one now ?

[powerslide]

Correct, the extra expense of the ball spline up front and then the extra expense of the cf shaft negates any gains for me, if they have any. I have a brinn

[W2racing]

So where is the best place to buy a carbon fiber driveshaft? Is it advisable to get a new one over used?

[dirtrace09]

Has anyone ran a fastshafts carbon fiber driveshaft?

[mattworx]

If there is an advantage to a ball spline, to me it isn't worth the extra maintenance. And like you said huck, if it was a sure advantage, all the top guys would run them and they don't.
I've seen way more u-joint/bolt failures than driveshaft failures. The last time I saw a carbon fiber drive shaft come apart was due to the 5th coil turning it down like it was in a lathe.
I wouldn't sit in a car with a ball spline transmission and anything but CF for drive shaft to get my picture taken, much less race it. That is a dangerous situation.
In most cases, you'll need a shorter shaft for the ball spline vs standard slip. Your chassis manufacturer or someone on here can tell you what you need.

hi matt id have to say I haven't had any problems with aluminum drive shafts and i make ours out of longer shafts .carbon fiber is safer! but as far as loosing races, you will with a carbon fiber shaft. u joints on the other hand can be a problem if you don't keep up on them no matter what you have . the one thing I found that when using a ball spline it frees up the rear end movement. the drive shaft appears to act like a long toque arm lifting up further on the chassis , in my finding (another words R&D) it changed how the car acted . I am not saying a lot but enough for me to stay with ball spline .I know there is a bushing in a regular bert but I feel the upwards pressure lifts the car and I don't want that in my cars . I have no # to prove it one way or another but maybe someone does. maybe the big chassis builders are using it as a torque arm. just a thought

[Sprint76]

Has anyone ran a fastshafts carbon fiber driveshaft?

We've run them the past few years without issue.

[lm#9]

soo if I have a 640 hp motor would I need the 2,25 od or the 3.25 od in the wiles cf driveshaft thanks

[Matt49]

soo if I have a 640 hp motor would I need the 2,25 od or the 3.25 od in the wiles cf driveshaft thanks

It's not on their website anymore but the product description in many catalogs used to state that the 2.25 were for under 500HP. Better safe than sorry...I'd get the big one if I were you.

[grt74]

the reason ballsplines were so hot for awhile is because the yoke travels more in a ballspline compared to the standard trans but everyone found out later that they were traveling to much for the most part,lm#9 there is barely any difference in the weight of the small verses the bigger diameter shafts so i would go with the stronger one

[lm#9]

thanks for the input