Installed an Inland Empire Driveshaft the other day. Pretty straight-forward installation. The only issue was the hanger attached to the left muffler of my FI CBE had a cracked weld, so I needed to take it to a local shop for repair.
After I removed both mufflers, I chose to disconnect the CBE from the Full DPs, rather than remove the X-pipe from the intermediate pipe, as it is much easier to remove four (4) bolts at the flanges and sliding out of the rear hangers vs screwing with the Accu-Seal clamps.
The OEM 2-piece D/S appeared to have one U-Joint losing grease (they are supposedly maintenance-free), judging by the grease splattered within the driveline tunnel:
Also, the OEM D/S also has a hard rubber damper, which appeared at first to be dry-rotted, but later I figured out that Infiniti spray-painted the D/S black, including this hard rubber dampener, which I found to be orange near its center.
After I removed the OEM D/S, I installed the IE D/S with the help of a neighbor. At first, the three (3) bolts supplied by IE appeared to be too short, but the rear flange of the IE D/S is an interference-fit with the rear differential mating flange as it is tightened-down,
Rear flange of IE D/S installed:
Front flange of IE D/S installed:
Money shot of IE D/S:
Overall, a worthwhile mod. Eliminates the clap-trap of the OEM D/S, loses about 9 lbs of rotational weight in the process, and much less slop can be felt in the driveline.
The car also feels quicker off the line, and the roll-on in higher gears feels quicker,too.
UPDATE: In fact, something happened yesterday when an idiot in an older BMW 540 thought he could take me from a dig. "Nope!"... but when I went to 2nd gear, with the VDC engaged, I got a "fart" out the exhaust, meaning the VDC detected some wheel spin during the gear change, which
never happened to me before the D/S install, as it always happened only in 1st gear. The road surface was dry, with temps in the 80s. So it appears the torque transfer to the wheel(s) is much better.
