Drive shaft with lowering

5.0Black

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Hi Everyone,

I am starting the long road of upgrading my 2013 GT Premium with Track Pack. I have done some research, but there is one issue I want to be sure of before buying my next part. Currently I am in the first phase of this install which includes the Ford Racing Suspension Kit (ordered, but not installed yet), Michelin 4s tires, and driveshaft shops one piece carbon fiber drive shaft. I am ready to purchase the drive shaft soon and won't be installing these parts until spring. I am a novice when it comes to working on a car, but I would like to tackle these parts on my own and take my mustang in for an alignment only. I like this particular drive shaft as it seems like a quality piece from a reputable company from what I have read. I will also want it for when I go supercharged. My main concern with this drive shaft is if I will need anything extra to avoid a hum or vibration in the car. The suspension kit itself supposedly drops the car ~1 inch front and rear as well as an adjustable pan hard bar, front and rear sway bars. I did speak with the driveshaft shop about their drive shaft. They told me that I should be ok, and that I should not mess with the pinion angle on it in addition to saying "keep it as close to stock as possible". I am conflicted as if the pinion angle changes you would think you would want adjustable upper and lower control arms to get it back to where it needs to be. Perhaps this is because my drop isn't significant and the driveshaft itself is slimmer so there is more clearance. Thoughts on this? Just want to make sure I am good to go to buy, install and drive. Anyone own a lowered mustang with a one piece drive shaft?


Drive Shaft: https://www.americanmuscle.com/dss-c...ft-1114gt.html
Suspension ordered: https://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-...assembled.html

Current Mods: Bama V2 tune (will be gone once I go supercharged), Ford Racing sport axle-back.
 

hand-filer

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I'm lowered 1 1/2" with a 1 pc. aluminum driveshaft with no CV U-joint. No adjustable upper or lowers and no noise or vibration issues.
 

5.0Black

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I'm lowered 1 1/2" with a 1 pc. aluminum driveshaft with no CV U-joint. No adjustable upper or lowers and no noise or vibration issues.
Thanks for the reply! Good to hear that you have no noises or vibrations. Just curious, when you lowered the car how did it aid with wheel hop and traction from a stop?
 

5.0Black

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Shaft masters is a better drive shaft
Interesting. I am open to other drive shafts. What makes it a better shaft than DSS one piece CF outside of price? I see it is about half the price which is always good and the hp rating is the same. Only difference I can tell outside that is one is lighter (DSS) and made of CF.
 

oldstv

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The cf shaft will help to keep nvh down over an aluminum shaft. I had an aluminum shaft and it amplified the rear end noise where the cf shaft didn't seem to be so bad.
 

5.0Black

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The cf shaft will help to keep nvh down over an aluminum shaft. I had an aluminum shaft and it amplified the rear end noise where the cf shaft didn't seem to be so bad.
Thanks, and for me that is important. I already find my mustang to be noisy so anyway to minimize that is welcomed.
 

FJohnny

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Just curious, when you lowered the car how did it aid with wheel hop and traction from a stop?

I've got pretty much the same setup as you but in a '14. If you want to get rid of wheel hop a set of non-adjustable lower control arms will do the trick for you. However, you may not need them. Stickier tires often cure the problem and the S4's might be enough.

If you are going to supercharge anyway maybe your driveshaft money is better saved to put toward the kit. The stock driveshaft setup is heavy but works well enough in a street setup if that's where you are going with your car. I'm guessing that's your goal because of the more handling oriented suspension kit you are buying. The supercharger will give you far more bang for your buck than the driveshaft. If you plan to stay with street tires you will spin before you overpower the stock driveshaft.

My Whipple kit is a blast on the street and I've still got the stock two piece driveshaft in it. Like you, I was poised to buy the one piece but when researching it found that I wasn't going radical enough to really justify one. The one-piecers sure look a lot better, though. No pinion angle adjustment was required on mine. As a matter of fact, lowering my front by 1 inch also required no alignment adjustment.

If you don't like noise, any urethane bushing you put in place of the stock rubber can be expected to raise the level. No pain, no gain, I guess. I will take a bit of noise if it means nicer drive and better handling. A set of quad GT500 mufflers look great, sound great and goes a long way to drown out any noises you don't want to hear!

Install of the stuff you are going with is fun and relatively easy. I did what you are going to do completely solo but I can tell you it would be easier and a lot more fun with an extra set of hands and a few beers. Use the available youtube install videos. They help a lot and keep you from repeating steps. Supercharger kits can vary quite a bit in difficulty of install. Again, watch videos of the installs so you know what you are getting into.

Good luck and have fun. You are going to LOVE the results!

All the best.
 
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bottle fed 14

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Interesting. I am open to other drive shafts. What makes it a better shaft than DSS one piece CF outside of price? I see it is about half the price which is always good and the hp rating is the same. Only difference I can tell outside that is one is lighter (DSS) and made of CF.
My friend owns Hammer performance here in El Paso Texas he refuses to install their drive shafts the DSs because of problems without U-joint vibration and the U-joint always ends up going out in the end because it's that weird thing that use shaftmasters used as a good U-joint I knocked the s*** out of mine all the time absolutely no vibrations or problems
 

5.0Black

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The DSS I bought was noisy immediately upon install. It sounded like the CV came packed with sand. The Shaftmasters that replaced it has been going strong for 4 years.
Just curious, was your DSS CF or aluminum? Shaftmasters seems pretty solid, my only complaints is aluminium only it seems for my Mustang, and I prefer CF for the quieter attributes of it.
 
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hand-filer

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It was aluminum. I guess the defective CV joint would have transmitted less noise through a carbon fiber tube.
If noise transmission is that high of a priority, I'd stick with the stock drive shaft.
 

5.0Black

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Not to bring a thread back from the dead, but I wanted to post my conclusion for what I did for those who may read this thread in the future while doing research. I personally have always hated reading a good thread that pertained to something I was thinking about buying only to not have an end result.
I ended up with the driveshaft shop one piece carbon fiber shaft. I haven't had the chance to test my Mustang as long as I would have liked as it sits in my parents garage bay 3 hours north from where I live, but in the little bit I have driven the car it has made a noticeable difference. Here is the link to my review for those who are curious https://www.svtperformance.com/threads/dss-one-piece-carbon-fiber-drive-shaft.1173367/
 

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