DriveShaftShop Carbon DS - Vibration!
 

I just had my new carbon drive shaft by DSS installed on my RHD Toyota 86 (or FR-S). Had a test run earlier and I noticed that there was some vibration throughout the entire cabin at certain speeds. So these are what I felt:

1) Everything is ok below 100km/h (62mph). No noticeable vibrations. Exhaust seems a bit louder).
2) Between 100km/h (62mph) and 145km/h (90mph), I notice that there are vibrations within the cabin. It is VERY noticeable, especially on my butt and steering wheel. The plastics inside the cabin rattle throughout, whereas it wouldn't previously. Takes away a bit of the confidence.
3) Go faster than 150km/h (90+mph) and the vibration goes away. Drives like normal above that speed, albeit slightly louder exhaust notes. Strange?
4) The vibration becomes more apparent the harder I step on the accelerator (between 100-145km/h). If i press the clutch in, the vibration goes away completely so I assume that this vibration is very likely to be from the new drive shaft.
5) Car responses are a lot better despite the vibration. Feels like it really wants to go, but the vibration is putting me off.

I'm not really sure what is going on here but I suspect it could be a problem with the balancing or that the drive shaft itself is warped. I'm really worried about the reliability of this thing given these vibrations and how it could affect the drivetrain if I keep with it.

What do you guys think? Could it be a problem with the installation? Thanks in advance.

What driveline mods? Bushings?

Contact Driveshaft Shop, see what they recommend.

I know that some people have gotten rid of their excess vibration by rotating the driveshaft and that got rid of the harshness.

Did you rotate?

Mines been on about 25k miles. Has been flawless, has seen 110+mph on track

No bushing mods. Pretty much stock engine and drivetrain-wise, except for the Crawford BPB, air filter and a full exhaust system.

Still waiting for a reply from DriveShaftShop, so let's see how that goes.

I'll try having it rotated tomorrow at the workshop and see if that makes a difference. Hopefully it does. Thanks!

I got lucky with carbon fiber drive shaft installation - worked perfect first try.

However many state that it can be hit or miss with the balancing. Unbolting the drive shaft from the diff and rotating 90 degrees until you no longer see the vibration should do the trick.

Yup. Standard procedure with theses shafts it seems....

Keep us posted. People should keep in mind that the factory shaft is a two piece design. Something to think about for potential buyers.

I have the aluminum shaft. Rotated it 3 times... still vibrates at 60mph. I want to throw the thing in the trash.

just installed my aluminum drive shaft last week. All is well. No vibrations like OP is speaking of.

You do know that there are places that will balance it for you? But i would be emailing the manufacturer if it were me.

OP, the turning the shaft 90* has always worked for me on previous cars. If you have the tools it would be quicker andd easier to do it yourself than take it to a shop.

Yeah and I bet they are only open 8-5 m-f and shipping the shaft back will cost a fortune.

Maybe. Emails are free to send though...

Just rotated it 180 degrees today at a shop. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to do it myself as I do not have any equipment at home. Will try it out later to see how it fares, unfortunately the traffic was too bad earlier and I didn't have the chance to go past 40mph. I'd rather not do any shipping yet as I'm based in South East Asia and it will be a bit of a pain.