[DeTomaso] Half Shaft Safety Hoop

[jderyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/7/09 8:05:16 PM, tborcich at msn.com writes:

> On the inboard half shaft they keep flailing around until the cars stops. 
> If you break an outboard universal all you do is put the clutch in and all 
> the beating stops. Many dragstrip cars have drive shaft hoops so if they 
> break a universal they don't have drive shaft flailing around, it is 
> contained in a steel loop.
> 
> Since my wheel house repair is almost complete, I'm thinking about putting 
> a half shaft safety hoop of some sort to contain the half shafts is they 
> break again.  Has anyone else done something similar?
> 
I don't think so, because the problems are different. A broken Pantera 
u-joint starts the destruction but the real problem is the slip-joint in the 
middle of each halfshaft. When a u-joint breaks and releases one end of a 
halfshaft, only a slight change in alignment will allow the free end to slide out 
some 4", vastly increasing the radius of destruction. The hole in the inner 
fender panel does a decent job of containing a broken outer with some 
damage to the pass-thru hole and occasionally the rear brake line, but a broken 
inner u-joint is a real money-eater. A driveshaft loop for this application 
would have to be made with rather tight tolerances to contain the wobbling 
free end. Right now, I can't picture how it could be done. Anyone else? 
Cheers- J Deryke