Enhancing Your Silverado’s Drivetrain with Aftermarket Driveshafts

The driveshaft is essentially a pass-through part for all the power your engine makes. As your Silverado’s engine goes and the transmission is in gear, the driveshaft rotates and feeds that power into the differential housing where the final gears spin and rotate the axles and wheels. 

The driveshaft is also important for how much it weighs as that directly impacts the power loss your Silverado may endure. The driveshaft is rotating mass and the heavier it is, the more power loss you can experience. Swapping from a heavy driveshaft to a lighter one can reduce the amount of power that gets lost from the engine to the rear wheels from 18% to 12%.

If you are one of the people in the segment of Silverado owners who enjoys off-roading, an aftermarket driveshaft can help you immensely. If you have an aftermarket lift kit installed on your Silverado to help improve ground clearance and the appearance of your truck, your suspension geometry has been impacted and will need to be corrected for the new angles. To correct this, an aftermarket driveshaft that compensates for the increase in ride height is needed.

If you don’t have a lift kit on your Silverado, there are other upgrade options for your truck and its drivetrain. A lighter driveshaft will reduce the rotational mass of your drivetrain and free up some extra horsepower by reducing the overall drivetrain loss.

Aluminum driveshafts can hold more horsepower than stock driveshafts and overall, they just weigh less. While the amount of power they can hold and the amount of weight they can save varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, you can figure on being able to hold ~700 HP and shaving off 9-12 lbs. There are really no major disadvantages to upgrading to an aluminum driveshaft other than the price, which can range from $400 to $800 dollar depending upon the brand.

Like aluminum driveshafts, carbon fiber driveshafts can hold more horsepower and shave off more weight than the stock alternative. However, carbon fiber Silverado driveshafts take things up a notch from aluminum driveshafts. Carbon fiber driveshafts can generally hold up to (and a little over) 900 HP and shave off as much as 15-20 lbs, again, all depending upon the manufacturer. Shaving off that much weight is good to take your Silverado drivetrain down to only 10-12%, which will give you a healthy bump on power.

In short, the answer is no. Replacing the stock driveshaft for a lighter one is not a great upgrade for any Silverado owner that takes their truck off-road. In that case, you are better off with a lift kit and an elongated driveshaft that will accommodate the increased ride height. 

However, if you drive your Silverado daily and it isn’t going off-road regularly, then an aftermarket aluminum or carbon fiber driveshaft would be a great upgrade. It will give you a small increase in power and fuel economy, making it worth the cost of the part.

If you are a Silverado owner who likes to drag race their truck, then an aftermarket aluminum or carbon fiber driveshaft is pretty much a necessity. All throughout the automotive world, aftermarket driveshafts are a staple for any race focused build, and that is true for Silverado’s as well.

Driveshaft balancing is pretty self-explanatory as it is the act of balancing a driveshaft so when it spins, it spins evenly and balanced. Although most driveshafts you can buy on the aftermarket are built well and will not need to be balanced at all, some driveshafts may need weights to balance them out as they spin. This is not uncommon, especially on older trucks and after years of having a driveshaft on your truck that may have taken a few dings along the way. 

Driveshaft balancing is fairly similar to wheel balancing as you need to attach weights to the driveshaft that even out the weight distribution. If you have an unbalanced driveshaft, you will know if right away as your whole truck will shake from the off-balanced rotations of the driveshaft. Luckily it is a simple fix.

Ultimately you can get away with using the stock driveshaft for towing and be fine. The Silverado is a well-built truck that can work all day long. However, having an extra bump of power when hauling a trailer or full bed of items never hurts. 

If your Silverado is lifted, then go with a driveshaft that will correct the geometry as this will be especially important when putting a load on your hitch. If your truck is not lowered, then an aluminum or carbon fiber driveshaft will serve you equally as well. The question at that point ultimately boils down to how much money you wish to spend on your drivetrain.