The Driveshaft Shop 3.50-Inch Aluminum One Piece Driveshaft (15-17 Mustang GT w/ Manual Transmission)

Video Review & Installation

Hi, everybody. I'm Justin with AmericanMuscle.com, and this is my detailed review of The Driveshaft Shop Aluminum One Piece Driveshaft, available for both your automatic or manual 2015 and up Mustang GT.So the aluminum option from The Driveshaft Shop is going to be for any S550 GT owner out there who is looking to severely strengthen their drivetrain by eliminating that weak factory two-piece driveshaft, while also ditching a good amount of rotational mass away from the car in the process. Now, this is definitely going to be a necessary upgrade for you guys who plan on making big power down the road, or if you do plan on spending a good amount of time at the dragstrip with a sticky tire.All right, let's first start with the strength benefits of the aluminum one piece DSS driveshaft, then we'll talk about some of the weight saving benefits. Now, first and foremost, if you are an S550 owner, you're probably already aware of a few of your weak spots in your drivetrain, mainly those halfshafts being the most predominant or obvious, the factory two-piece driveshaft being a close second. Now, that two-piece driveshaft from the factory has a couple of things working against it in regards to strength. For starters, it's two-piece. There's more connections, meaning more weak spots that are prone to failure. In addition to that, the factory driveshaft is made out of steel, which has been known to snap with enough power and enough traction. The aluminum one piece DSS driveshaft has been rated to 1,000 horsepower, 3,400 pound-feet of torque, and it's been tested in 9,500 RPMs. So this thing has been built to last. You're also going to be looking at BP 108 millimeters CV joints in addition to this one-piece billet adapter that is going to take the place of the factory U-bolt or universal joint, as it's oftentimes called. Now, I do like this, because that factory piece does do a good job of soaking up noise, vibration, and harshness, but it has been known to cause driveline slop. By replacing it with a one-piece billet unit, you're going to be making a more direct connection from the transmission all the way back to the rear end.All right, guys, so we've talked about the strength improvements. Now, let's quickly talk about the weight savings benefits when making the switch to a lightweight aluminum one-piece driveshaft. Now that factory two-piece driveshaft in a manual 2015 and up Mustang is going to weigh in around 33 pounds give or take.The one piece aluminum driveshaft from DSS for a manual car is going to weigh in around 21 pounds. This is an automatic version we have on the table here. This thing's going to weigh a little bit more than the manual version, but figure you're going to be saving anywhere from 9 to 12 pounds of weight in rotational mass. Now, this is never a bad thing, because you're going to feel the car pull through the revs a little quicker, and you might even see some improvements to your 60-foot and ET time at the dragstrip. Nothing crazy, but a slight improvement is certainly not uncommon.As far as price goes, guys, well, as you might imagine, the aluminum version is going to be more affordable when compared to the more expensive carbon fiber version. Now, even though the aluminum version and carbon fiber driveshafts are rated to the same amount of power, the carbon fiber version will offer some other benefits, such as soaking up extra noise, vibration, and harshness. It's going to offer a little bit more torsional twist, easing the shock to your drivetrain on hard launches, and it is slightly smaller in diameter when compared to the aluminum version here, making for a little bit more clearance.Now, are all those benefits worth an extra $400 to $500? Well, that's for you to decide. Believe it or not, guys, the install on a driveshaft really isn't all that bad, just a little time-consuming, because you have to remove the mid-pipe and some other things. So I figure about a two out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter, maybe a couple of hours from start to finish. You're definitely going to need your torque wrench for this one, so make sure you have that on hand before getting started, decent socket set, of course, and don't forget to lock tight the bolts.Also, guys, if you're shopping for driveshafts, this wouldn't be a bad time to consider maybe looking for a safety loop, especially if you're serious about drag racing, as they are required in a lot of events. So you can look for those, and the install will definitely be a lot easier when tackling the driveshaft.In my opinion, guys, the aluminum version of the DSS driveshaft here will be more than sufficient for most setups out there, and in my opinion, will definitely be one of those necessary upgrades along with those halfshafts. If you're making good power, and you're planning on thrashing the car at the strip or on the street, especially if you have a radio or slick in place, be sure to learn more about the DSS stuff, your S550 here at AmericanMuscle.com.