I bought my car used last summer and it has a steel driveshaft. A buddy told me that manual transmission cars came with aluminum driveshafts.

I would think the steel shaft, while heavier, would be stronger. What are the pro's and con's of each? Is it worth the dollars to put the aluminum driveshaft in?

Thank you

 

I believe your car should have an AL shaft, all LS1 cars came stock with the Aluminum shafts AFAIK... If it has a steel shaft, it maybe an aftermarket, or for some reason someone swapped in the stock steel unit (Unlikely, but possuble).

 

I thought i heard before that not all ls1s came with an aluminum ds

 

To the best of my knowledge your friend is correct. Out of the three driveshafts that I have seen on my friends LS1 cars, one one was aluminum. That car was 98 T/A 6-speed, the other ones that had the steel driveshaft were a 98 z and a 2000 z, both autos. It seems to be a falicy that ALL LS1 came with the aluminum d.s.

 

The 2.73 A4 cars came with the steel. I thought about upgrading mine after gears/TC but it's doing just fine. I'd spend the money on something else.

 

You pretty much lucked out by having a steel ds on the car instead of the usual thin-walled LS1 aluminum unit. At least with the steel you wont twist your ds like a pretzel on hard launches.

 

If you plan on racing with sticky tires I'd use a steel. I'm running the time in sig with a stock steel unit. No issues yet.

 

The problem with the steel one is that it has a fairly small diameter when compared to some of the aluminum ones, plus it's heavier, which means more vibration at higher speeds. As far as strength is concerned, we all know the outcome of aluminum vs. steel...