So this is what happened. I woke up and was on my way to work when I noticed a weird sound coming from the rear passenger side. I thought maybe I didn't tighten the tire correctly after replacing it. Shortly after I could hear a loud noise coming from under my passenger seat and I knew it was the driveshaft. I had my gf stepdad look at it (former mechanic) and he said it was the cv joint and the best way to fix it was to replace the whole driveshaft. I have read that instead if the 2 piece driveshaft it had, it would actually be better to put on a 1 piece aluminum from any 4th gen. Is this true? And why would that be better than the 2 piece? Any suggestions or info much appreciated

 

yes you can replace the shaft with any 4th gen (and third gens too) the reason the single piece is better is one its lighter and two you have no bearing to deal with

 

You can get a used single piece steel one from a LT1 Camaro for like $50

 

Do not buy a 2 piece. There is no replacement part for the carrier bearing, so when it fails you will have to replace the whole drive shaft. These cars do not benefit from a 2 piece, idk who's idea that was... but I think they realised it was a bad idea, that's why when you try to replace the bearing they sell you a single piece conversion kit

Grab a steel or aluminum driveshaft from a 4th gen z28/SS, both will work just fine.

 

The idea behind the two piece driveshaft was to absorb engine vibrations that the v6 engine puts out, primarily the 3.4.
Later 3.8 models have a one piece driveshaft, not a two piece.

 

Does it matter if it is steel or aluminum? And its a direct fit?

 

Either one, doesn't matter. And yes, it'll slip right in place. The aluminum shaft is about 4 lbs. lighter than the one piece steel shaft, at least mine that I weighed were: 16 vs 12 lbs. You're not going to notice a difference in performance between the two, so it's not worth the extra cost for an aluminum one.

 

Check eBay and ls1tech for ADS I paid $90 shipped for mine.