Does anyone know if a driveshaft from a v8 car is the same length and everything as our v6 cars? I was going to do the search thing but I guess it doesn't work. Just thought one of you guys might know! Eric

 

yes- they are the same length. The transmissions are the same length whether it is a V6 700R4 or a V8 700 R4. the side that mounts to the motor is different bolt pattern only. The rear ends are the same proportions thus making the driveshafts the same.

 

There are very few differences between the V6 and V8 cars. It is kind of nice for us V6 owners.

 

fourth gen v8 driveshafts will also work.

 

Get an aluminum one if you can. They are better balanced.

 

They're only lighter.

 

I knew they were lighter but i thought i heard they were balanced better.

 

the aluminum ones do have a better balance(tighter tolerance) to them. there was a GM bulletin for the 4th gen cars. cars that had a vibration problem under warranty had the steel shaft replaced with an aluminum one.

 

and the gain for spending $100 plus.... 1 Hp... for less rotational force required to turn the D/S....there are better ways to spend money.

 

CHC
So what if its 1 hp, I would love to have a lighter and better balanced drivetrain.

 

ok, Again, I AM NOT CHC, this is twice this has been implied.

If you must know the reasoning for the name...
I was looking at a 350 TPI GTA 'bird, but at last minute it was sold out from under me, so I was stuck buying a shi**y V6 camaro. So now I am stuck with taking the engine that I was building for a 85 'Elco and putting it in this thing. To try to get to 60 isn a decent amount of time, like under 10 seconds....

 

OK, just by your S/N and the reply you made implied that you were CHC. His header plan went thru the floor and he hates us v6er's with a passion. So what if the V6's arent the baddest *** engine in the world. Just dont diss the motor here, Ok. IF your v6 cant get up to 60 in under 10 then theres something seriously wrong with the engine and needs to be fixed. Its sad that the GTA got swept out from under you thats just life, no reason to get mad.

 

The 10 sec, is an exageration, but not by much... Sad that I got beat by a V6 hyundai the other day... Just waiting for the 380 to get done and swapped in... go find that little teen age punk, and lay 100 ft of rubber in front of him to show what an american (when well done) can do to ****...

 

I would like to have an aluminum driveshaft too because vibrations are hard on the engine. I can't justify $400 for it so the stock one is fine.


My 0-65 is around 8 seconds. I know the 60 degree v6 doesn't gain much by rebuilding it and it won't be any speed demon unless it has some serious forced induction, which is why I just plan on getting a faster car when I have the money.

 

i also recommend the aluminum DS.

on my 4th gen, going from the stock 2-piece to a 1-piece aluminum DS took off 0.2x sec from my 1/4 mile ET. i believe that's more than 1 HP on the rear wheels. it should theoretically help out a little on the MPG as well.

did any of the 3rd gen V6's come with the 2-piece DS? my 83 has a 1-piece steel. i don't know if it's stock.

 

If you want performance these cars aren't it..but with a few simple mods they do move out quite nicely..but beyond those it's extremely hard to get them to do much better. With only SLIGHTLY tweaked intake, and my only REAL upgrade to the ignition being 8mm plug wires, and a new high flow cat with a Dynomax Catback, my 0-60 went from a stopwatched 10.5 seconds to a G-Teched 8.28 seconds. Not bad for about $280-$300 worth of mods.

 

Has anyone ever changed their own driveshaft? How hard was it for you and about how long did it take you? Eric

 

installation is easy and pretty straight forward. if you have a 2-piece stock DS, unbolting it that may get you cursing (like i did ) especially the middle clamp if the bolts are rusted and don't have enough clearance when using jackstands instead of a lift. it took me i think 1.5 hours the very first time i did it. this is probably a 15-minute job with power tools and a lift. unbolting a 1-piece steel DS is easier, no middle clamp
.

 

I dropped my driveshaft out when I dropped my transmission out; it's not hard. You undo the strap bolts at the rear u-joint, if I remember correctly, they're 11 mm bolts. You'll have the trans in neutral so you can turn the shaft by hand to get to the bolts, so stick a large screwdriver thru the ujoint to stop it from turning.

Take white out or chalk or something, and mark the relationship of one side of the u-joint to the rear axle yoke. This will preserve any "balancing" that was done.

Once you undo the strap bolts, the d-shaft won't fall out. 'Fact if you've never had it out, it might not budge! Lay a block of wood under the rear of the dshaft (just in case it does fall, you won't damage the ujoint), and go to the rear of the trans. Wipe off the d-shaft flange where it slides into the back of the trans; get all the dirt off it. Use some new trans fluid on a rag. When you get that free of crud and dirt blobs, get a pry bar, and crawl back to the rear of the driveshaft. Put the pry bar between the ujoint and the rear axle yoke, and pry the driveshaft forward. This'll force the driveshaft into the rear of the trans (which is why you just wiped all the dirt away, to protect the rear seal!) and will free the driveshaft from the rear axle.

Now pull the driveshaft out of the trans.

Installation is opposite of the reverse. I think torque spec for the 11mm strap bolts is very light; I'd quote a number but I don't want to give you a wrong number. The correct torque is in the Haynes book, or the GM service manual.

Oh yes, you WILL need a torque wrench.

 

Used 4th gen aluminum driveshafts typically sell for about $100 (thats what I paid for the last couple), and help out a bunch if you have a vibration you can't get rid of (sometimes agravated by lower rearend gears, esp if its a T56 or other trans with a lot of OD). If your car needs the u-joints replaced anyway, its an especially good mod because you don't have to worry about that for a while. You'd have almost that in new joints and a rebalance of your existing driveshaft.