I finally took it out on a highway and got some pretty bad vibration when approaching 50mph. If I punched it a bit, it pushed through it so I hopped under it when I got back to check the two piece pos driveshaft and center bearing was mushy with craploads of play. Definitely going with a one piece (tons of 93-02 SS and/or others plentiful. I've been looking at this aluminum one below but I don't know if the nick in it will cause a balance issue. They dropped price to 135+30 s/h. Plus prolly another $50 for a couple sealed spicers. Or, I could get a steel one ($50+s/h+ spicers) . Do you think that nick in the alum would cause much trouble? I've just got a little ol' 3.4L that I will hardly ever take it past 65 or 70mph. And, the Nissan gets twice the mpg so I don't see driving it more than once a week anyway.

 

Well, they dropped the price to $100 SOLD ($139 delivered).

I realize the '93-'02 fbody's single shaft is supposed to be compatible in length. I thought the only potential incompatibilities came in when manual/auto tranny's came into play. Still not clear so, does anyone know if the 2000 camaro SS LS1 driveshaft (from automatic tranny) coming soon and my 1995 base 3.4L (from automatic tranny) tranny spline/yoke assembly & differential yoke/pinion gear same on both?

I know it's not necessary but I love JB Weld and was wondering if filling in the scratches would help anything. I'm gonna test it first on the car of course as is when it arrives. If there's no vibes, I'll leave it alone of course. Although, should I just slap the new spicers on it and get it balanced first? Unfortunately though, the closest shop is about 60 miles away. Peace of mind is priceless but I am also an old school grad and, "if it ain't broke..". Thoughts?

 

Not likely a problem but I would have saved some some money and bought the steel one,you probably won't see any gain in performance.

 

It's a 3.4 so not worried about performance. I'll be happy if it just stays running after a 13 year hiatus. I looked at a bunch of places and steel ones aren't cheap either. The used ones almost all needed lots of cleaning and I couldn't find a brand new Chinese setup with enough good ratings.

 

All will fit T56. T5 or A4. (I had the same aluminum shaft in my Green 96 3800/5 speed and my automatic 2000 Z28 and it came from my 93 T56 SS clone)

I would not put anything on the driveshaft. Dents and even most scratches do not remove material. As long at the dent is not large it should have very little vibration if any and that will be only at high speeds. Issues really only start when the drive shaft is hit hard enough it is no longer straight. This may show up as a dent but the dent is not the problem it the fact the centerline is shaped like a banana.

Unless you are a really lucky guy any repair would make it worse. If you are worried about it the drive shaft it can be balanced as long as it is straight. Depending on where you live they can be a pretty cheap process if you carry the dive shaft into the drive shaft repair shop. Last one I had done 30 years ago cost me $20 and took 15 minutes while I waited.

Anytime you reduce the weight of the turning part of the drive line you increase the power that makes it to the ground. In the race car we used 2 to 1 ratio for weight being removed. Removing 1lb of weight of the drive line would speed up the car as much as removing 2lbs off the chassis. Not a huge gain but like I said before if you are in a 3.4 a gain like that are all you can get.

FYI the purpose for the Aluminum drive shaft in the SS was for top speed. All drive shafts have a limits on how fast they can spin before the start to have issues. If you are building a car with 3.23 gears and two overdrives and good aero it may be able to go 180 MPH but the drive shaft may turn into a jump rope at 140 MPH. The pecking order for drive shafts is. Steel, Aluminum then Carbon fiber. After Carbon fiber you are back to carrier bearings. I am sure super high end cars have titanium in there but at that cost I would think they would just make the Carbon fiber work and the titanium is just for bragging rights.

 

Thanks Gorn. Since the banana variable may still be a factor, I think bringing it in to check/fix the balance will save install/uninstall headaches and pain. The gouge itself doesn't look like it would have bent it out of shape but who knows. I have to work on a rough surface area, on my back. Not a spring chicken anymore so sliding in and out, eyesight, joint pain, etc. changes the whole dynamic anymore.

The fleabay seller said they had just recently bought out a boneyards' inventory which was supposedly well-documented. So, I assume the "93-02 Aluminum Drive Shaft Camaro SS Trans Am WS6 GM Auto T56 LS1 LT1" description is accurate. I read that all of the fourth-gen cars came with either a Tremac T56 six-speed manual or GM 4L60E four-speed automatic transmission? GM Service Manual says a 5 speed manual also - less popular??

The LS1 LT1 is obviously longer than the L32 v6 I have. So, I'm guessing the v8's were just set farther forward in the bay to keep the tranny/drive shaft lengths the same as other 4th gen's or was the wheel base a hair longer? It's hard to imagine having the forward room in there. Even lower profile fans and somehow backing up the radiator/condenser seems daunting.

Anyway, should I use my yoke since I know its in good shape or should I just slap the new spicers on the one coming since it's identical (assuming it's in decent shape) before bringing to the shop?