I have always wanted to get the 2 piece driveshaft on my camaro switched with a one piece. I recently saw that on hawks third gen parts, they have a used one piece steel driveshaft for $25. What is a typical price for getting that installed, just looking for a ballpark figure.

 

I have two things to say:

1. I'd go for the single piece aluminum driveshaft, not steel

2. For the love of god don't pay someone to do it, dp it yourself. It'll save you money but more importantly it's rewarding to say you did it yourself. There's guides online, it's very simple to do.

 

It is very simple to do and most won't have trouble with it at all but if you have no mechanical experience don't do it. Today I saw I guy mess up 5 lug nut putting on a tire so is hate to think of what someone would do to a driveshaft. If you have a set of jackstands and basic tools its bout an hour job.

 

The only drawback of spending bigger bucks on an aluminum driveshaft, is that nobody is going to be able to see it. And I highly doubt you're going to feel any performance benefit from the 4 lb. savings (I've weighed them) over the one piece steel shaft. You definitely will feel the difference in the weight of your wallet though.

 

To tell you guy the true I never even thoguht to look into if I can do this myself. I am not auto tech by any means, but at the same time I am not a bumbling idiot around a car either. I do all my own maintenance, oil changes tire rotations, gear and transmission oil changes, spark plugs and stuff like that.

If switching out the drive shaft is in the ballpark of those other simple jobs, then I'll def consider doing it myself. I'll search for some of those online guides you mentioned javs.

I do have a few questions....

1) I have seen on different threads here that one of the reasons gm decided to go with a 2 piece is to cut down vibration, escpecially from the 3.4l (my engine)...will the increase in vibration from the 1 piece DS even be noticable? If the vibration is a concern should I take it somewhere and have the balance checked?

2) Since the DS I would be getting is going to be used would there be anything that is a subtle givaway that it is not of good quality, or is it most likely in good shape since it would be coming from hawks 3rd gen parts?

3) What is the RPM limit for the steel DS? I have seen on different parts website that the aluminum one has a limit of around 5000-5500 RPM. Also, how much power can the steel DS handle? In the future I do plan on modding (either build my 3.4 for originality sake, or swap and build the 3.8). I want to keep it a v6 but make it faster. (notice i said FASTER not fast for those of you ready to say a fast v6....good luck lol)

 

call around to your local wrecking yards and see if they have any used driveshafts and how much they are asking for one if they do. its a easy switch, take one out, put other in, yokes are the same, ujoinits are same. probly be a good idea to change the u joints in it if they show any signs of fail. i think its 86-02 camaro driveshaft will fit.

 

1) Most guys who have replaced with a one piece haven't noticed a vibration increase.
2) Since the driveshaft will be in your hands, I wouldn't even consider slapping in a used one without replacing the u-joints. It's more work to do it later, plus you may not be able to feel by hand if the u-joints have any chatter marks, but you'll feel it as a driveline vibration if they are bad. Figure if replacing the joints is in your skill level, it's not a that hard of a job.
3) A stock steel driveshaft will handle anything you'll be able to give it with your V6.
A third gen driveshaft will fit, as long as it came from a 700R4 vintage car. The older 3 speed models (shorter transmission) use a longer driveshaft.

 

does anyone have/know of a write up on how to replace the driveshaft and u-joints?

 

Your best bet would be to look on youtube. I'm sure there are tutorial videos on the subject.
Just follow one that looks like the guy knows what he's doing.

 

My experience is that the two piece has less vibration at high rpm and the single piec has less vibration at low rpm. Overall i like the single piece