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Couldn't find much information out there hope this helps somebody.
Recently decided to purchase an aluminum drive shaft for my sedan.
Good news it fits perfectly!
On my quest for rotational weight loss I have found that it's 15 lb lighter then my 2 piece... Almost half the weight. Also you get less drag resistance as the two-piece has that bearing. Aluminum driveshaft is 16.5 lb. Two piece drive shaft is 31.5.
With a lightweight flywheel. And z1 crank pulley IV saved 37lbs total off my rotational Mass and body weight.
Also bought rays wheels and Michelin sport cup 2. Compared to the steel wheels I lost another 5 lb off of each corner. Grand total of 57 lb of rotational mass weight loss.
When I get home tonight I'll post some pictures hopefully of my scales with the actual weight of the driveshafts. Hopefully this is freed up a lot of torque. And has made this sedan alot quicker.
Edit added pics of original body weight then weights of each driveshaft.
Thank you! It's mainly me testing to see how dramatic weight reduction is on rotational Mass. I hear things like 1lb is like losing 10lbs. For 50lbs is like losing 500lbs which if that's true..... A stock 350z should not be able to keep up with a "2900lb" g35. Stock na both. I really wish i knew the efficiency of weight savings of rotational Mass. So many theories. I should have got time slips of my car before and after the flywheel, drive shaft, and pulley. I know just the pulley saved 6lbs on the crank and the flywheel on a g35 was actually 31lbs stock or as mine weighed 30.7lbs. so my 12.8lb flywheel is a huge saving on the crank and that extra 6 lbs will be amazing 23.9lbs + the 15lbs on drive shaft. 38.9 than 20lbs on corners by going to light rays wheels and MSC2 tires..... If 58.9lbs does not add traumatic difference I'll be surprised.....
Be careful with lightweight crank pulleys. Here's a good analogy.
Ring a dinner bell, notice how it's got a nice long ring to it if you hit it with a mallet?
Now hold the dinner bell in your hand to "dampen" the sound, hit it with the mallet again, notice how it has a very quiet ring that quickly dissipates?
That's because of resonance, harmonics, and frequency, metal will RING when it's impacted. The explosion inside the combustion chamber is also creating a ringing harmonic across the crankshaft. Your crankshaft HARMONIC DAMPER is designed to keep that ringing to a minimum. Without it those microscopic vibrations are being absorbed by your CRANK BEARINGS instead of the harmonic damper.
Basically you are shortening the life of the crank bearings by removing the harmonic damper, this is why ALL built engines use a better harmonic damper. The bigger the explosion the more harmonics you induce into the crank, thus the better the damper needs to be. Fluid or soft materials absorb the ringing, much like your hand does when you place it on a ringing bell.
Personally I wouldn't recommend one, but I just want you to be aware of the risk so there aren't any surprises later on down the road.
Be careful with lightweight crank pulleys. Here's a good analogy.
Ring a dinner bell, notice how it's got a nice long ring to it if you hit it with a mallet?
Now hold the dinner bell in your hand to "dampen" the sound, hit it with the mallet again, notice how it has a very quiet ring that quickly dissipates?
That's because of resonance, harmonics, and frequency, metal will RING when it's impacted. The explosion inside the combustion chamber is also creating a ringing harmonic across the crankshaft. Your crankshaft HARMONIC DAMPER is designed to keep that ringing to a minimum. Without it those microscopic vibrations are being absorbed by your CRANK BEARINGS instead of the harmonic damper.
Basically you are shortening the life of the crank bearings by removing the harmonic damper, this is why ALL built engines use a better harmonic damper. The bigger the explosion the more harmonics you induce into the crank, thus the better the damper needs to be. Fluid or soft materials absorb the ringing, much like your hand does when you place it on a ringing bell.
Personally I wouldn't recommend one, but I just want you to be aware of the risk so there aren't any surprises later on down the road.
Damn didn't know that I know with v8s you change them out to super dampeners.
But I haven't heard issues with the 350Z regular de having an issue. It's a z1 product so we'll see
I should also add that I've never heard of anyone that actually experienced a total engine FAILURE by using one (350Z or G35, obviously happens on a lot of other engines though). And the main bearings on these things are really robust. If I just had to pull a number out of my butt I'd say that instead of getting 250k miles out of the bearings you would probably get around 175k.
Some engines have terrifying harmonics and you'll kill the motor within 50-75k miles of hard use, the VQ is much better overall and there's been a LOT of people using lightweight pulleys over the years.
EDIT: You could always plan on doing a Blackstone oil analysis later to see if there is increased wear.
Just switching from the 5 spoke OEM sport wheels to Enkei RPF1s (15.5 lb each) was noticeable off the line and on rough roads. The lighter weight allows the suspension to respond more quickly. It was also an improvement I could feel when I replaced the 7 spoke OEM V6 wheels on my Accord with the much lighter (16 lb) RSX wheels, especially braking.
I still have the OEM flywheel because at 206,400 miles I still have the original clutch too. But whenever it needs a clutch I'll go lighter than the dual mass flywheel but probably not crazy light because I don't want a lot of chatter. Driveshaft would be a good idea to go lighter too. I'll be interested in your impressions once you get it installed.
