Does aluminum drive shaft really make a diffferance

 

seat of the pants difference? no. Difference in general, yes. Hell, pro-stockers run carbon fiber shafts that wear out in a race or two, rifle drilled axles, titanium spools, etc all in the name of reducing the centerifcal weight.
You won't really notice a difference until you have much more power than stock, then you still probably won't feel it, it'll just show on time slips. - It also helps driveline items(bearings, u-joints, etc) live longer.

 

do you know what diameter of the stock drive shaft is?

 

Stock steel 3rd gen dr shaft should be 2 5/8 dia. The ILE Aluminum is 2 7/8 dia.

 

I think the best reason to have an aluminum driveshaft is becuase there is less weight and less vibration........if I could find a way to put one on my 62 caddy i would.........

 

If you are having vibration issues with the stock steel shaft, the aluminum shaft makes a world of difference. It is the one single reason there is one on my '92.

RBob.

 

in fact, if you took your car back under waranty and complained of "vibration at cruise" your car was usualy given an aluminum driveshaft and aluminum brake drums to fix the problem.

 

there's no reason for a steel shaft to have any more vibration than aluminum, unless it's bent or mis-balanced.

 

Its driveline harmonics and the critical (speed of the shaft) that the aluminum takes care of....
and yes aluminum is better (srtonger and lighter)... something to do with the driveshaft spinning faster than the motor in cars with a overdrive trans...

 

Since when is aluminum stronger than steel?

 

Yes, unfortunately I found out about this too late. I know some one that purchased an '87 Camaro, new. Had severe vibration problems that the dealer couldn't fix. Ended up selling the car.

With mine, once the aluminum shaft was installed I had to keep a good eye on the speedometer. The car is so smooth that I found myself cruising at higher speeds.

RBob.

 

Sort of. Pound for pound certain alloys of aluminum can be much stronger than steel. When we are replacing steel components with aluminum ones in our case for weight savings, we are always compromising the strength and longevity of the part.