Scoop on the shake in my car after the MMP T1 race.....

[sleeper02Z06]

Seems as though I started the year off with a bang! My missed shift may have caused the early death of my driveshaft and torque tube. Looked like it was already on the way out for some reason but missing the shift and locking the wheels up sealed it's fate. As of right now it looks like there is no damage to the motor from the overrev and no tranny damage. Lets keep our fingers crossed! What a way to start my T1 career!!

Joe

[smithsc]

Joe,

Like you said, it could have been worse.

Best of luck in round 2!

Steve

[Subdriver]

Joe,
I'm slowly coming to realize the driveshaft needs periodic attention though you don't read about it too often on the forums. When my car was at Phoenix Performance last month, I had mine replaced as a precaution. Hope you get your car back soon so you can make the Summit National.

Below are a couple of pics of Joe's driveshaft he emailed me today:

[mgarfias]

Ya know, thats a pretty damned weenie looking drive shaft.

[seege]

Mmmmm......Scoop, Shake

Brad
Was all that debris in the torque tube? Is that normal? Is there anything serviceable in there or is it a throw-a-way?
Thanks for the heads-up.

[Subdriver]

Originally Posted by seege

Mmmmm......Scoop, Shake

Brad
Was all that debris in the torque tube? Is that normal? Is there anything serviceable in there or is it a throw-a-way?
Thanks for the heads-up.

I really don't know. Those pics are of Joe's drive shaft, not mine and when Phoenix replaced mine (as a precaution not because it had failed) I wasn't there. I've never seen the inside of one of those things until Joe sent me the email yesterday.

I think there is a middle bearing on the shaft and that is what is left of it, but I'm not positive. I'm confident that whatever it is, it isn't good.

[AJA]

Originally Posted by Subdriver

I really don't know. Those pics are of Joe's drive shaft, not mine and when Phoenix replaced mine (as a precaution not because it had failed) I wasn't there. I've never seen the inside of one of those things until Joe sent me the email yesterday.

I think there is a middle bearing on the shaft and that is what is left of it, but I'm not positive. I'm confident that whatever it is, it isn't good.

Its a hard plastic ring.

[ELF Z06]

GM does not want you to service the tube. There are bearing at each end that can be changed and the rubber flex couplers can be changed.(replaced with metal if your not in T1). The shaft is also avaiable in carbon fiber again if your not in T1. But when ever you do anything to the assembly it will need rebabanced. This shaft always spins at engine speed, unlike shafts that have their xmission in front of them.

[gmblack3]

That disc was put there so the driveshaft would not "whip" inside of the torquetube. On my old car 01 Z06 I had it apart after 50ish K miles and 25 trackdays to replace the bearing at each end. Everything else was fine on mine. Usually the rubber bushing at each end will fail on the older design (pre Z06) I have only seen a few of the new design fail and this is the first center disc that I have seen fail.

[Subdriver]

AJ, ELF and Silver,
All great info, thanks!

[sleeper02Z06]

Originally Posted by silverz06vette

That disc was put there so the driveshaft would not "whip" inside of the torquetube. On my old car 01 Z06 I had it apart after 50ish K miles and 25 trackdays to replace the bearing at each end. Everything else was fine on mine. Usually the rubber bushing at each end will fail on the older design (pre Z06) I have only seen a few of the new design fail and this is the first center disc that I have seen fail.

My car has 10,800 miles on it. 6 days of HPDE, the typical 25 minute sessions, and the Memphis race weekend which was 15 practice laps on Friday, 6 laps on Saturday plus a 17 lap race, 9 laps on Sunday plus a 20 lap race. The car had seen the drag strip early in its life but always on stock tires. Until the T1 prep it had never seen rpm above the factory rev limit. I guess mine just was not built too well.

Joe

[gmblack3]

Joe, It also appears that your center disc was more of a metal content. A friend that I sent this thread to thought that when we looked at ours (his is a 01 Z06 as well) that it was a plastic piece. I thought ours was the plastic as well. Maybe you can ask the guys at Phoenix what they thought it was made of.

[Subdriver]

Originally Posted by silverz06vette

Maybe you can ask the guys at Phoenix what they thought it was made of.

AJA works at Phoenix (when he's not in college) and mentioned above that it was hard plastic.