DIY:MFactory Carbon Fiber Driveshaft Installation

[randrews15]

Originally Posted by glacket

cool, I already have 3/8 motorized ratchet and socket u joints. i wasnt intending to disconnect the headers from the engine block i mean disconnecting the xpipe from the headers or disconnecting the xpipe from the test pipes. To me it makes more sense to leave the test pipes connected to the headers and disconnect the xpipe from test pipes. I am hoping to order it in a couple weeks. wish they had a sale on the 6mt like they do for the dct. that would sweeten the deal.

Yes, I disconnect the x-pipe from the test pipes which was plenty of room to work. It took them about three months from start to finish for them to get to me. Still one of the best mods I've done yet.

[gerikivan]

well i got the mfactory cf driveshaft for manual and idk if it will be the same for dct.. im running all solid mounts on mine that the rear differential dont flex at all, that you will need to remove the rear axle from the differential and drop the rear differential to fit..

[randrews15]

Originally Posted by gerikivan

well i got the mfactory cf driveshaft for manual and idk if it will be the same for dct.. im running all solid mounts on mine that the rear differential dont flex at all, that you will need to remove the rear axle from the differential and drop the rear differential to fit..

I don't know about manual but see about undoing the transmission mounts which would allow you to raise and lower it to allow for clearance. I had to do this with my DCT.

[gerikivan]

Originally Posted by randrews15

I don't know about manual but see about undoing the transmission mounts which would allow you to raise and lower it to allow for clearance. I had to do this with my DCT.

yup i did that too no luck..

[randrews15]

Originally Posted by gerikivan

yup i did that too no luck..

Maybe someone that has a similar setup can chime in on what to do. It sounds like you'll have to drop the diff in order to get clearance with the solid mounts.

[roastbeef]

Try raising the transmission.

[simpleM3]

Other than finding obvious signs of flaws or damage, is there a good reason why the Giubo disk should be changed with a DS swap?

[Redd]

Originally Posted by simpleM3

Other than finding obvious signs of flaws or damage, is there a good reason why the Giubo disk should be changed with a DS swap?

Nope. I changed it cos I had already bought one, but the original giubo was in excellent shape when I removed it.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by simpleM3

Other than finding obvious signs of flaws or damage, is there a good reason why the Giubo disk should be changed with a DS swap?

No. Mine looked new at about 60k.

[pbonsalb]

I did not see any need to change my flex disk at about 80k and 9 years when I installed a one piece CF shaft a couple of years ago and it’s still doing fine at 101k miles. My car is a 6MT to the extent that matters.

[Richbot]

I only changed it because I had one and it sped up the install slightly to pre-install it on the driveshaft rather than worry about getting it off the old one - the old one looked great at 120-ish kilomiles but I would have felt real dumb if I didn't have a new one ready on install day with two friends helping

Install note: On my 6MT, I had to remove the front diff bolts to get enough room to get everything in and lined up. Took some head-scratching for a minute but it worked fine. Once the front diff bolts are loose/out, there's tons of play, but if you have a solid diff bushing setup a) I'm sorry and b) I don't see how you could possibly make it work without dropping the diff, attaching the driveshaft, and jacking it back up into place as an assembly - there is not enuogh play in anything, by design of course, to allow the driveshaft nose/giubo to go over the output shaft unless you can get yourself about 1.5" of wiggle to the rear

[wyatth]

Good photos/thread, thanks for sharing.

Would be great if some [DCT] owners could talk me out of this mod. My wife thanks you in advance.

[simpleM3]

I just received my invoice from Micheal Yip at MFactory. Needless to say, my payment was submitted immediately upon receipt. There's a promo going so I was out the door w/shipping at $1400; no twisting of the arm was required at that point.

[drrust]

Originally Posted by wyatth

Good photos/thread, thanks for sharing.

Would be great if some [DCT] owners could talk me out of this mod. My wife thanks you in advance.

I'm in a similar situation. But I will need to do something as I have a clunking drive shaft now. In terms of rebuilt units the Turner ones are about 2/3 rds the cost of the Mfactory units, so cost of CF units are not too bad. However today units for a DCT are 2-3 months out, so your wife will be happy for now.

[pbonsalb]

You can get one rebuilt for $525 plus shipping.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...eshaft+rebuild

The one piece CF are nice but not the dramatic difference over a perfect working condition stock shaft that some claim. They are slightly lighter and they are one piece, and one piece means a little less play. But remember that people were happy with stock driveshafts when these cars were new. If you want to spend $1400 to replace your driveshaft and maybe get a slightly better feel, go ahead. But it’s far from a necessity. I bought one a couple of years ago.

[drrust]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

You can get one rebuilt for $525 plus shipping.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...eshaft+rebuild

The one piece CF are nice but not the dramatic difference over a perfect working condition stock shaft that some claim. They are slightly lighter and they are one piece, and one piece means a little less play. But remember that people were happy with stock driveshafts when these cars were new. If you want to spend $1400 to replace your driveshaft and maybe get a slightly better feel, go ahead. But it’s far from a necessity. I bought one a couple of years ago.

That is the initial price. I did get some info from that seller. There doesn't seem to be a stock of cores, that may not be a problem for some, but I daily my car so I can't wait for shipping my driveshaft, waiting for the rebuild and shipment back. One would also have to pay for shipping both ways.

[wyatth]

I’d certainly go this route if I’m rebuilding my stock shaft anyway. But at 52K mine is fine. I just like no-downside mods, of which there are few, lol.

[romero1990]

Great write up. My driveshaft is clunking at low speed and not sure when to finally replace it yet. But when the time comes, I'll probably just go with CF since it cost similar to brand-new OE.

[Rajmun340]

The differential gearing is 3.85 so every gram of weight saved in the driveshaft is only like saving 1/3.85/2 = 0.13 grams for each rear wheel. It would be interesting to take the driveshafts weight difference / 3.85 / 2 to get an idea of how much equivalent rear wheel weight reduction this mod does compared to stock versus lightweight forged wheels.
Getting rid of the velocity joint between front and rear propeller drive shaft is interesting i wonder what is the benefit/repercussion.

[randrews15]

Originally Posted by Rajmun340

The differential gearing is 3.85 so every gram of weight saved in the driveshaft is only like saving 1/3.85/2 = 0.13 grams for each rear wheel. It would be interesting to take the driveshafts weight difference / 3.85 / 2 to get an idea of how much equivalent rear wheel weight reduction this mod does compared to stock versus lightweight forged wheels.
Getting rid of the velocity joint between front and rear propeller drive shaft is interesting i wonder what is the benefit/repercussion.

I talked to my neighbor who's a Porsche tech and he said for every pound of reduced rotational mass is the equivalent of dropping 5lbs of unsprung weight. I do believe the CF driveshaft is about 12 lbs lighter than stock, so you do the math. He does a lot of racing and just got his modded Mustang to sub 11 sec in the quarter mile, so he probably knows a thing or two about it. I do like the more connected driveline feel you get by taking out the center joint. There was always the feeling of I guess I would call it slop in the initial takeoff with the stock driveshaft. Now, it's power is right there and almost immediate in my opinion.

[simpleM3]

This argument appears to be going down that path best known as "to each his own." lol

[Vybz]

I'll post some facts since I just did this install for a 6MT.

OEM driveshaft weight - about 23 lbs.

M Factory DS weight - about 12.5 lbs

Install is MUCH easier IMO if you just drop the differential from the rear subframe for 6MT. I have solid bushings in my subframe, so I wasn't able to just do the front 2 like those who have rubber, but removing the extra rear bolt is a minor inconvenience. Manipulating the trans did not give enough room to get the prop shaft in place for the 6MT, so just save yourself the hassle and unbolt your differential. Keep in mind how heavy the diff is and make sure you have a jack underneath it & someone with hands on when you do lower it.

I would def recommend attaching the flex disc to the driveshaft while it's outside the car. No point in doing it in the trans tunnel where you have literally no room. Take it out of the box and just install the flex disc before carrying it over to the car.

A lot of people had issues with torque and I'm not sure why. Rule of thumb is always to torque the nut, not the bolt head, so getting proper torque when attaching the flex disc to the prop shaft is easy. Just have a friend isolate the bolt head with a combo wrench, and torque the nut. When attaching prop shaft and flex disc to the output flange of the trans, it's trickier. You definitely don't have enough room to torque the nut unless you remove the bracket connecting to the transmission housing. When it's physically not possible to torque the nut, is the only time you ever torque the bolt head. That was the case for me, so I snugged the bolts, and then got a 41 ft lb torque on the bolt head with a crows foot. Place the car in gear, to isolate movement of the driveshaft. Use a breaker bar to get your additional 90 degrees.

Last bit of advice is to ensure you have the arrows on the flex disc pointing the right way. They should be pointing towards a flange, not away from.

Good luck peeps! It's an easy job, just requires a little patience.