Driveshaft = Safety Item? (Page 1 of 2)

Since you blew it up racing, we'll let you fit a new (junkyard) one in the budget. If you're talking about getting some sort of super-hot-rod driveshaft in the car for Lemons, we'd become intensely curious about the power levels created by your "stock" rotary.

However, the "it's for SAFETY" argument doesn't work so well with us when applied to stuff like suspension bushings, struts, springs, etc. If your car is an E30, Miata, or just about anything at the opposite end of the stupidity spectrum from a BRAT with ill-advised engine swap, we get even meaner.

No, but you can beg the Lemons Supreme Court to cut you some slack if your car is sufficiently awesome. We assume that teams don't set up their budget to require a muffler-pipe driveshaft in the first place, so if that's how it sorts out for you... better work on making the car even more awesome in our eyes.

There are many shops that will take any random pair of driveshafts and make one custom one with the correct length, yoke, etc for not very far into 3 figures. You'll figure something out.

Well, I cant comment on the topic but I LOVE that first pic. Man, that looks good. More!!!

just replace the muffler tubing with some 1.75"x0.134 DOM rollcage tubing and you'll be fiiiine!

serious question - would a driveshaft hoop fall within 'the budget' bin or should it be put in the 'safety' bucket?

I've seen a driveshaft in the cabin and it .... wasn't pretty.  Driver walked, but the seat looked like it'd been hit  by a shotgun - often.

Lessons we learned this weekend:

DIY extended driveshaft = good idea
16ga aluminized exhaust tubing as driveshaft body = could use improvement

After further consideration of what caused the failure and what can be done to prevent it from happening again in the future, I'll probably just DIY the driveshaft again, this time using a higher-grade steel.  The aluminized muffler tubing in "version-1" was selected based on convenience (tubing we had laying around of the appropriate diameter), and the non-trivial Lemons chuckle factor (muffler-tubing driveshaft. epic lulz).  It worked well for what it was, withstood countless punishing "clutch kick" torque spikes and near triple-digit speeds before its demise.  That the muffler-tubing driveshaft lasted as long as it did suggests that it was almost adequate, and since "adequate" is all we're after, changing to a stronger body material should be enough.  Having a driveshaft professional made and balanced would be nice, but if that would be held against our Lemons budget then I expect we'll instead take our chances again with a "version-2."

A properly themed Subaru Brat isn't going to get any penalty laps.  I just don't see it happening.  Do what you need to do to feel safe (ish) driving it.

As for the drive shaft loop, while not specifically called out as a safety item (or is it?  I don't remember), it clearly has zero performance benefit and IS a safety item.  Do it.

measure the correct length for your driveshaft (DS). Using some calipers or a micrometer, or maybe just a tape measure, find the outside diameter of each end of the DS (the machined interface) Count the splines on each of the interfaces. Write all that down in big lettering on a piece of scrap paper (because you'll be getting grease all over it).

Then head down to the local junkyard and start crawling under Japanese cars of similar size. Look for the same differential or rear end in Japanese cars, as that will likely have(does that have the R160 differential in it?). I would try any Subie car, any of the rear wheel drive Nissan's (240-260-280zs) or RWD Toyota's. Try and find a longer DS that has the right ends on it. Also check the small trucks. If that all fails to produce something useful, find any long enough DS from a big chevy/ford sedan/truck and weld your subie ends onto that.

Honestly, I would rather you spend $50 over your $500 budget to not have you die next to me on the racetrack.

Woah there, I just dont want any bodyparts flying into me. Mechanically separate yourself somewhere else.

You must make your vehicle safe, which means no muffler-pipe driveshafts. If you need to go over budget to do so, then that's what you need to do. No promises made about BS inspection (especially since I won't be at the North Dallas Hooptie) but we don't want disintegrating driveshafts on the track.