3D Scanning for Tailshaft Clearance Verification

I am converting to a larger diameter carbon tailshaft and for this application Driveshaft Shop/Diff Technics provides two options, 3.25" and 3.8". Being much larger than standard and made from carbon fiber, exhaust clearance was going to be an issue. On top of this, the OEM tailshaft is a two piece design while the aftermarket is one piece, this results in a slightly different path.

The solution? 3D scan the OEM shaft, exhaust and underbody, then use CAD to model the space taken up by the new tailshaft options.

The images show the original tailshaft (green) versus 3.25" (yellow) and 3.8" (red) options.

This helped determine that regardless of which one I go with there will need to be exhaust modifications to increase clearance.

The 3.25" clears with only a few mm, not enough when exhaust growth, tailshaft dynamic deflection and exhaust movement if bottomed out are taken into account.

You can also clearly see that the 3.8" has several mm of interference with the muffler and forward flange.

This is not immediately obvious from physical measurements due to the compound angles involved due to the change from two piece to one piece.

While this could have been measured by hand, it is a great demo to show how 3D scanning can be used to check for clearance, design new components and confirm fitment of complex geometries that would otherwise be incredibly difficult to impossible to do manually.