What do the last 33 NASCAR champions (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Trucks) over 11 years, the 9-second stock-motor Evolution Performance 2011 Mustang GT, the world’s fastest prop-driven boat (209mph), 3 time NMRA Pro 5.0 Champion Donny Walsh, 7-time American Le Mans Series Champion Pratt & Miller, 3-time FIA Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren, 4- time NMRA Hot Street Champion Charlie Booze and every modern Ford Cobra Jet Mustang all have in common?
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Every single one of them was putting power to the racing surface with a driveshaft from the folks at Dynotech Engineering in Troy, Michigan.
The automotive performance aftermarket is a massive market with thousands of companies offering performance components covering literally every item of every performance vehicle in the world so when you consider the list of clients using Dynotech driveshafts - it is clear that there is something very special about their products. I recently had a chance to head to their production facility in Troy, Michigan to check out the shop that builds the racing world’s most widely-used driveshafts as well as their popular offerings for the new Ford Mustang.
As I entered the massive production facility, I could only imagine the size of the assembly line that provides driveshafts for the majority of the current NASCAR race teams but Dynotech General Manager Steve Raymond lead me to a small corner along the rear of the building where every driveshaft Dynotech sells is hand built and balanced by a small team of experts. In this small, isolated corner of the production facility I got a chance to see how a simple looking metal tube is transformed into the driveshafts that power the world’s most powerful vehicles.
If you have dealt with a driveshaft in any way, you can probably imagine that the production is fairly straightforward with the various components being mocked up, then welded together before heading to final assembly – where the magic happens. Each and every driveshaft that Dynotech builds spends an extensive amount of time in the balancing area, as the low and high speed balancing areas are where Dynotech driveshafts separate themselves from any other brand on the market.
Once the driveshaft is welded together and ready for the balancing process it goes into a low speed balancing machine where each shaft is tested at 5,000rpm. Their high performance driveshafts then move onto another balancing machine that spins them at a stunning 8,000rpm, with both machines measuring any vibrations and allowing the driveshaft engineers at Dynotech to apply the proper weights to remove any detectable vibration. What does that mean? Well, when a new Ford Mustang GT is cruising along at 80mph in high gear on the highway, the driveshaft is spinning around 3,500rpm. This displays how much further Dynotech goes to prevent vibration during their production and balancing process. The industry standard for similar spin-balancing on driveshafts is an rpm range between 3,200 and 3,500 with a balance target of 0.20 to 0.35 in-oz compared to the 5,000-8,000 rpm at Dynotech with a balanced to 0.125 or less with a general target of 0.10 - showing how much further Dynotech goes compared to the OEM industry standard.
I spent around an hour watching one of Dynotech’s guys meticulously check and adjust the balance of a driveshaft intended for a 2005+ Ford Mustang GT, over and over, until it was perfect. When he was done, not only was the driveshaft flawlessly smooth on the hyper-critical computer balancing machine but it was also sporting a show-quality polished finish so for those worried about a clean looking undercarriage, a Dynotech driveshaft offers as much under-car style as it does performance.
While Dynotech has an incredible list of professional-racing clients, they also offer products for today’s performance street vehicles with a special interest in the new Ford Mustang. As mentioned above, Dynotech provides driveshafts for the new Ford Racing Cobra Jet Mustangs and the Shelby Super Snake high performance GT500s, showing that they are capable of taking the abuse of over 800 horsepower but they are also a great modification option for your daily driven Mustang. The Dynotech driveshaft for the 2005 and newer Ford Mustang GT does away with the standard two-piece driveshaft and while guaranteeing no vibrations, the Dynotech unit also cuts 21 pounds from the driveline. This loss in rotational mass on the engine allows for an addition of 8 horsepower (individual results may vary) at the rear wheels from simply adding the performance one-piece driveshaft.
While prices may vary depending on where you look, I did some quick research around the internet and found that Dynotech’s driveshafts are not only the most widely used shafts in the racing world but for the average guy building a street machine, the Dynotech driveshaft is more affordable than some lesser-used brands. Dynotech has become a popular early modification for newer Mustang owners but due to their individual hand building process, Dynotech Engineering can make a driveshaft for literally any vehicle on the road today – including unusual pairings or chassis lengths in custom street rods and race cars. After spending time touring their facility and seeing how much careful work goes into the production the Dynotech driveshafts, it is really no wonder why they are the first choice in most forms of racing in the United States.
Image source: Evolution Performance’s video of their 9-second ¼ mile run
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