[DeTomaso] Axles and halfshafts

MikeLDrew at aol.com MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sun Aug 26 18:12:14 EDT 2007


In a message dated 8/26/07 14 11 3, shawkins777 at comcast.net writes:


> Didn't you have an axle break backing out of the garage?
> 

I drove Steve Mooney's Pantera for about an hour, coming home from Vegas one 
year (following behind him as he drove his Toyota 4runner 4x4, so we were just 
cruising along, no high-speed or anything like that).   Pulled into the hotel 
parking lot and all was well.   The next morning, he jumped in, drove about 
20 feet, and while turning out of the parking lot into the street, one of the 
driveshafts snapped.

Drewsastered, in other words.

Interestingly, the driveshaft was one of those 'heavy duty' units from 
Pantera Performance Center, made up for Dennis using Spicer components, by a local 
driveshaft shop.   They had failed to properly weld the tube to the yoke; it 
was barely hanging on by a thread due to inadequate penetration, and the road 
trip to Vegas plus Steve's drive on the racetrack, and then the drive halfway 
home did it in.

We were able to get a local welder to patch it up enough for Steve to get 
home.   Dennis to his credit replaced both driveshafts free of charge, and 
tightened up his quality control; it's the only failure of that type I've ever heard 
of.

But aftermarket driveshafts are not necessarily 'better', as this experience 
shows.   At least the stock driveshafts are OEM units, manufactured in bulk 
and presumably with some fixed quality control, unlike the aftermarket units 
which are custom-built (by whom?) and whose quality can thus potentially vary g
reatly.

Mike




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