Ripped drive shaft i

[Renthorin]

Ripped drive shaft in two!! Now here's a story!

Car = 87 Grand National
Location = Central Indiana
When = fall 2003
Why = I was acting a damn fool! Still, it was fun
Notes - just installed my alky injection and had not fully tested it.

I was on my way home (4 hour trip) from Morocco drag way in Indiana. My bro lives in Brookston so that is where I was staying.

I am a few miles out of town when I come up on a line of 3 cars going 40 in a 50. Can't have that!

Car #1 was a beretta
Car #2 was some 4-door family thingy
Car #3 was a early 2000's WS6 Trans Am with "NOS" in the back window and HUGE tailpipes.

Mr. TA passes the first two cars and takes the lead.
I pass the two cars (responsibly and slowly) and am just about to pull in behind him when that little voice says...."why? Just keep passing...."

So I do. I am at his door when I hear him downshift. Sounded very mean and he jumps ahead, not going to let me pass.

I stomp the gas and keep pace. I have no knock thanks to the alky so I am not really paying attention and have forgotten to lock the transmission 3rd so it won't shift into OD (I was told that is really hard on the transmission).

85 had gone past few seconds ago and we are still going strong.

Suddenly, I feel the car shift into OD and think "self...that felt like OD kicking in."

A second later there is a horrific BANG from under the car followed by a thumpity thumpity bangity bang and I see a 'pipe' shoot out the back end of the car flying up in the air.

I let off the gas pretty damn quickly and take the first side road. Car is idling just fine so I put it in park to shut it off. As the transmission is still turning it does that grrr.r.r.r.r.r.r.r..r CLUNK as it locks.

Ah hah......I have no driveshaft!!!!

I walk back down the road and find the two pieces.

More painful was the look of the faces of the Beretta drive and other car driver that eventually caught up and passed me. I was pretty embarassed.

No, they were nowhere in the area when it let loose. Remember....slow..

I was towed back to my Bro's and he trailered me home :-(

The rear U-joint let loose and the drive shaft bopped around underneath beating up the floor boards and one of the exhaust pipes.

I had a drive shaft look and it was nicely deformed.

Here are some picts

http://community.webshots.com/album/80578595oKYpqO

Top few are the drive shaft and the trans hump in the back seat area.

 

[betsy84]

thats brutalllllll bro, at least you sound positive. it coulda been worse right! at least ur alright. i kinda know what thats like, last yr in my camaro i was coming home from the gym and just decided to giv'r on the back road, when what do you knowww *clunk*, so everytime transmission shifted, started from a stop, id get some nice clunking, turned out my ujoint was held together by the tinyyyyyyyyyyyyest bit

 

[Cutty87]

I was in a Sonoma when the FRONT driveshaft let go. That was pretty scary!




Did you replace it with an aluminum one? Or another steel one?

 

[Renthorin]

For a while there I was devistated that I had damaged the car. But...repairs went well and nobody but me can tell I damaged the floor ....well....and you guys now.

I now have a 3" aluminum HD shaft with HD Spicer joints. Good for 9's which I have no intention of ever running.

It could have been a LOT worse.

 

[78lemans]

Driveshaft chucking

I had to shudder while reading your story. I had something very similar happen to me in a 1988 K-5 Blazer I used to own. My fiancee was following me in her car (I was moving the Blazer from my folks' place to my house at the time and didn't have a plate on it) when the whole truck started to shake. Before I could say F@#K me I heard a loud BANG! and the violent shaking ceased. At the same time, the back end of the Blazer jumped up into the air as if I'd hit a speed bump at 75mph with the rear wheels only, and a long, dark object shot out the back. Good thing my girl was on full alert, because it would have gone through her side of the windshield if she hadn't swerved to miss it.

Found out later that the front yoke had an old hairline crack in it and was just waiting for the most inopportune time to go. When the shaft dropped out, the front wedged in the pavement and actually picked both rear tires up off the ground. So basically the K-5 tried to go for a new Pole Vaulting record.

Oh well, the good part was that since it was 4wd, after I had picked up the broken chunk of shaft, I simply locked the hubs and drove it the rest of the way home!

 

[Renthorin]

I run a safty loop so that doesn't happen (in theory).

You were lucky.

 

[ss4ever]

Similar thing happened to me in a 1974 Chevy C-60 grain truck. Well, not really. The "U" bolts that hold the axle to the springs were cracked and I didn't know it until I tapped the brakes to slow down for my exit. The rear axle assembly flipped around backwards leaving the truck with no brakes and the engine died due to the HUGE vacumme leak. The semi behind me swerved and missed the driveshaft that snapped when it hit the pavement. I am just real glad that nobody was in front of me when this happened.

The owner of the truck wasn't too pleased, brought the truck in for a new engine and was to pick the truck up that afternoon. He got there just as the wrecker was rolling the truck in the shop. After he saw that the "U" bolts were junk to begin with he eased up a bunch and was glad that the other engine let go because he was on his way to go get a big load of gravel.


Randy

 

[beachbum29]

I wish I had pictures of the devestation my friend did to his regal... but, he had a few too many cocktails... 83 regal body, 406 chevy, custom ground crower solid cam, balanced bottom end, 2.02 heads, old holley single plane intake (victor jr. design, but older).. engine likes the rpm's and rev's to 8k on a regular basis. th350, tight transmission, good shift kit, 7.5 rear end with 3.42 gear posi rear end. he decides to do a burnout on a cement pad in the yard where he was.. stages the car, and pulls it down to 1st manually.. lets her rip, 8k, second gear... 8k, drive.... sat there, then without warning, BANG.. and all sorts of neat noises and chunks of stuff flying.. driveshaft came out in 2 pieces, caved in the rear floor pan moving the rear seat up approx 6 inches, exploded the rear end, transmission came out in 3 pieces, when that broke the engine flopped back slapping the distributor into the firewall and killing the engine (which survived just fine once distributor was swapped.... wonderful thing when stuff like that happens ah?

 

[Renthorin]

I had some deformation of the 'hump' and my front seats were pushed up and out to the sides. Nothinga body mallet couldn't fix

I got lucky in that the transmission, engine, and rear end were not harmed.

 

[lilbowtie]

I had some deformation of the 'hump' and my front seats were pushed up and out to the sides. Nothinga body mallet couldn't fix

I got lucky in that the transmission, engine, and rear end were not harmed.

Check the bushings in your control arms for the rear end. I broke 2 drive shafts before I found out the rear axle was rotating due to worn bushing and playing he!! with my pinon angle.