OUCH! The very reason why I decided to go with a steel one-piece. Surely that should have some sort of manufacturer warranty?
Damn. That's so weird from everything I read. Maybe it was installed incorrectly or something? Or the diff moved and caused it to flex too much or something?
freaked out when i found out last night i have these thoughts hovering over my head... if you had a steel one that would not have happened, but then what would have happened to the ends??? if it was solid it obviousli couldnt snap like that so it would go to the next weakest link... and that would be??? wtf would have caused this to break ???
Yea im at a complete loss too. How is this possible at only 5 psi boost going from 2nd to third. My money is on something else here which caused the C/F shaft failure, kinda like a dominoes effect thing. MoulaZX
Big problem... ...with CF shafts is they don't like being hit by objects that get thrown up from the road. Hit one with a hammer and it's stuffed. Though with this said I see car manufacturers selling new cars with CF drive-shafts... do they have some sort of shroud to deflect anything that may hit the shaft? Or completely covered? It probably wouldn't have even happened with a chrome-molly or other steel one piece.
they can probably make you another one, you just keep the aluminium adapter in your diff, and send them the uni joints and they re-fabricate the shaft section that would be my first option... i'd also ask them to beef it up to the 1500hp version (wasn't it a bit thicker? or was it 2000hp?)
I don't really understand all the "outrage" in this thread. Hardly the first $1k part to fail on a Z. Be interesting to see what PST do.
Because it's something that is supposed to be able to take the power easily and safely, and is marketed that way. Then it goes and splits in half. I can't think of many $1k zed parts that just explode.
I have a PST one too, no issues yet. Bit of a worry though as it doesn't sound like this one broke under massive power. At 5psi even at the top of the rev range it's not going to be making bucketloads... Maybe it has fatigued under time? How many kms has it done?
here is a question ... how close was it to your exhaust? too much heat ..? Rob260 has a custom heat shield from what I've seen
It looks a bit like the resin hasn't gone all the way thru the fibre when it was made ? . That would affect the strength.or is it just the picture ?.
In my experience ACPT are excellent to deal with, fantastic aftersales backup & service. Heat from the exhaust will not have any impact on the carbon fibre, so you can rule that out as a possible cause. These driveshafts will fail if they are subjected to a side impact on the shaft.
Unlucky, Chris. You wouldn't expect that to happen so easily. I just bought myself a 1 piece ally shaft from the US & it arrived the other day.
Sure it does. UWAM had issues with the carbon fibre monocoque in earlier cars because the carbon fibre was delaminating with the heat.
that's what I pm'd to the original poster wasn't sure if acpt would see this thread or not my exhaust is wrapped in fibreglass wrap to protect the dshaft - rob can u post pics of your heat shield???
To answer a few of questions; 1. There was nothing specified anywhere about making special heat sheilds in order to use the CF shaft. Last I heard, CF is pretty resistant to heat. 2. The part was on the car since I finished building it, about 1.5 years. In that time I've done less than 10,000km and 1 track day. 3. I've e-mailed ACPT and now I'm just waiting for a reply. The car now has a stock shaft installed and its driving fine.
In relation to the ACPT CF driveshaft: During manufacture, the driveshaft is subjected to a heating process that vastly exceeds the temperature likely to be encountered in close proximity to the exhaust.
I guess this is another case of what is suitable for a race car is not necessarily suitable for a road car. A stone or other road debris flicked onto the shaft is enough to cause a fatigue point in is structure. This would be picked up in periodic inspection. For all of those(most of us) running aftermarket suspension, brakes and driveline parts it is a good idea to check them often, might be a pita but could of saved this shaft and any progressive damage that has resulted. I would be sticking with a steel one piece for road use.
