After talking with a guy at work about when I went to a junk yard and told him that I had a JG1 aluminum driveshaft in my hand but didnt know it till I got home and ran the code...he was like "man I got 2 in my garage from my old cars....you want one?"
I was like what? yeah sure!.....So I went and picked it up at the place I work at today since it was my day off. He remembered to bring it to work. I cant belive he gave it to me. He's an old guy thats into fast cars!....he's got a 650HP nova he's working on.
WEll not old seeing im 39 and he's about 50 or so...LOL

So my question is which one do I have? He says that its out of a 98 SS.....heres a pics of the numbers on the shaft

Ive heard that there are 2 different kinds and one might be better than the other...

 

thats a 1LE 2 3/4 dia. 3rd Gen shaft

 

The P/n is for a aluminum 2 3/4 dia 1LE dr shaft used on 3rd & some 4th gen cars. A good find for free.

 

yeah i'd have to agree that it was a good find since he gave it to me for nothing...gotta love these old motor heads with spare parts in thier garage just sitting around waiting to be given to youngster like me. He's told me story of his younger days and cars.

My next project is the 3.42 gears, aluminum drivesahft and TQ converter. I better be faster!....LOL

Im waiting right now on all my stuff to come in for the rearend and then I'll buy a TQ converter....install it all at the same time..SHOULD BE A BIG SOTP improvement!..I hope!

 

whats the PN on that shaft.. need to get one.

 

it's in the pic above, but if you order it from gm does it comes with the yolks and everything needed to install?

 

When ordered new they come with both ends complete ready to install. Try GM Parts Direct about $250.

 

Im here at work and just talked with the guy who gave me the driveshaft. I told him it was the LE1 shaft he gave me and he told me that he also has a LS1 shaft at home....he was like which one you want? He say that they are different sizes...one is thicker than the other......

SO which one do I want?...the LE1 or the LS1

what would be the real difference?

 

Depends on you. they are both good upgrades.
1LE - is 23/4 dia used on 3rd &L T-1 4th gen cars
LS1- is 3 dia used on LS1 4th gen cars
Both will fit.

 

Does anyone know the critical speeds of the 2 shafts?

 

If you are installing it on RS with a LO3 crital speed?? is not a problem.

 

How about just answering the question

 

SO which is better? the 3in or the 2 3/4 in?

 

critical speed for an ls1 aluminum driveshaft is 153mph, i believe. the speed limiter on those cars is set at 163mph. i have heard of people completing a top speed run, slowing down, and feeling a vibration. usually they tweaked their driveshaft. personally, i would stick with a steal one. a lot of ls1 guys take out their aluminum and put steal in. or if they are really serius, they go carbon fiber.

ryan

 

Well I dont plan on driving around at 150+ I got to many years ahead of me fo that nonsense. Now maybe if I was on the salt flats yeah, but on the highway? COME ON?!.......

 

Some of the advantages of the Aluminum dr shaft are the lighter wiegth and less mass to turn along with less vibration.

 

So the LE1 or the LS1 are basically about the same..and not one would really be better than the other?

 

For your application they would be equal. I have the 1LE one myself.

 

If possible get them both, then test them in your car. And then give me the one you like least to get it out of your way.

 

I would figure the LS1 could handle more HP and TQ because it is thicker...but the 1LE might be a little lighter. Seems about the same for street/strip applications like ours...but I'm no expert:lala:

 

if you need one of those drive shafts complete, ive got one, ill do it for $225 shipped to you. email me camaroracer1992@yahoo.com

 

I went ahead and kept the 1LE driveshaft only cause he forgot to bring the other to work......I figured the other wouldnt be tht much of a difference.

I dont have anything to do with car til I get the rearend in so I went over the driveshaft with some Mothers aluminum polish just for the hell of it...alls I did was wipe it on with my fingers and wiped it off with a towel..

looks pretty cool...

 

Looks good and you can't beat the deal on it. Why wait, install it now only a half hour job.

 

you chose the right one. a 1le driveshaft may be smaller in outside diameter, but the walls are thicker so, in my opinion, they are better. i would have chosen the 1le.

ryan

 

That does look good cleaned up. I will have mine out this weekend to do a tranny swap, now I have to polish my drive shaft. I am also installing a Spohn D.S. loop (red) so it should look pretty nice under there. Not that anyone will see it, but I will.

 

True! atleast I'll know its shiney up under there.

 

Polished LS1 Shaft!

 

now THAT looks GREAT!

 

Thanks man

 

I pulled my old driveshaft out cause im changing rearends and compared to the aluminum one, the steel is way smaller in diameter than the aluminum. plus my old one is red in color.

 

The Steel dr shaft is 2 1/2" dia and weighs in at about 17 lbs,so alll around the Aluminum one is a improvement over stock