Lost drivehsaft at speed, damage ensued.............

383S10

Frequent Racer
Feb 29, 2004
581
0
0
Huntsville, AL
A few weeks ago coming a cruise in I threw my driveshaft on the highway playing around.......a group of various cars behind my headed me locked it down when trans fluid spilled out........what I want to know from others who had this happen how much damage occurred to your transmission? Here is some pics from todays inspection.............broke the tailshaft all the way but the mount stayed intact and the iceman xmember held but the Energy Suspension tailshaft mount was the weakest part which I believed flexed..........
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383S10

Frequent Racer
Thread starter
Feb 29, 2004
581
0
0
Huntsville, AL
The rear u joint caps are gone......the drive shaft rolls across the garage floor smooth.....we were thinking the u joint clamp came loose and beat up the same clamp until loose at that high speed which all happened in less than a minute.....Energy suspension trans mount says Im supposes to have their engine mounts also for 3 way use.....never heard that before.....I had factory motor mounts......about 2.5 years on this set up......
 

SSedan64

Dragway Regular
Oct 5, 2009
948
0
0
MACON, GA.
Sounds like a load of BS from Energy.
Are you sure the DS Yoke engaged the Trans Output Shaft splines deep enough?
I saw where you used the Caprice Tailhousing on the Vette Trans.
 

Brown_Gbody

Top Fueler
Feb 17, 2010
3,078
0
36
Milwaukee, WI
383S10 said:
The rear u joint caps are gone......the drive shaft rolls across the garage floor smooth.....


I would save yourself some potential trouble down the road and take the drive shaft to a shop and make sure.. I went through a similar thing years ago, thought the drive shaft was OK, but after getting the car back together, it really vibrated at speed.... Had it balanced, and all was well......

.02 :)
 

HP JUNKEY

Dragway Regular
Oct 30, 2008
1,093
1
36
Buffalo.NY
OUCH!!,,, I have a Energy Sus. trans mount and factory rubber motor mounts on my Bu, about 8 yrs. on them with no trouble, BS from Energy, After that carnage ,,,, I would def. take your shaft and get her re-balanced!
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
I don't know how strong your Iceman support is, but I have a stock notched crossmember and I can shake the tailshaft of the trans up & down like crazy, it's like the crossmember is a flimsy piece of sheetmetal. I'm thinking of adding some gussets on the front/rear of the crossmember (means I'll have to paint it again :x) to help stop this flex... I didn't realize it was there until we put everything back in this time around.
 

383S10

Frequent Racer
Thread starter
Feb 29, 2004
581
0
0
Huntsville, AL
SSedan64 said:
Sounds like a load of BS from Energy.
Are you sure the DS Yoke engaged the Trans Output Shaft splines deep enough?
I saw where you used the Caprice Tailhousing on the Vette Trans.

Yes that piece is the same length 6" and the it engages fully.....the 700r4 in that year (1988) is the same they just made different tailpieces to cover the cars it was installed in Corvette, Camaro, and Caprices(9C1, police package).....

Energy Suspension says it and but I have been told by a few forum guys over at Gbodyforum.com..... :-k
Brown_Gbody said:
383S10 said:
The rear u joint caps are gone......the drive shaft rolls across the garage floor smooth.....


I would save yourself some potential trouble down the road and take the drive shaft to a shop and make sure.. I went through a similar thing years ago, thought the drive shaft was OK, but after getting the car back together, it really vibrated at speed.... Had it balanced, and all was well......

.02 :)

True.....thats a given....but I was merely answering a question posed....the plan is to let my local driveshaft shop check it and remake it if need be....but the roll test on the garage floor was for my immediate damage accessment......and it was retrieved by a guy in a CJ about 250 yards behind where I pulled over........
he went back and got it for me =D>
HP JUNKEY said:
OUCH!!,,, I have a Energy Sus. trans mount and factory rubber motor mounts on my Bu, about 8 yrs. on them with no trouble, BS from Energy, After that carnage ,,,, I would def. take your shaft and get her re-balanced!

HP Junkey.....your cred goes along way with me because Ive seen how you use your Malibu.....like I said the driveshaft will be rechecked then rebuilt if needed.....
Doober said:
I don't know how strong your Iceman support is, but I have a stock notched crossmember and I can shake the tailshaft of the trans up & down like crazy, it's like the crossmember is a flimsy piece of sheetmetal. I'm thinking of adding some gussets on the front/rear of the crossmember (means I'll have to paint it again :x) to help stop this flex... I didn't realize it was there until we put everything back in this time around.

and Doobs....the one I have is a pre cease and desist Iceman xmember before G-force got after him which I had powder coated......that thing is solid probably one of the best things I ever bought for my car and everytime its on a rack people tell me its serious piece but they thinks its a G-force......the piece is so rigid that I was worried it put a slight up flex on the trans and it is something I need to check and rule out before I drive it again........

Guys I truly appreciate all the input and thats the very reason I asked.... yall and this site has been a guiding light in the building of my car.....the welath of knowledge and various view points covers all issues that need to be addressed thus saving me time.....now money thats another subject I kinda splurge from time to time.... dancin_banana.gif .......laterz...............
 

lilbowtie

Pro Stocker
Oct 5, 2004
1,736
0
0
Canton Mi.
It kinda looks you might have had a cracked tail shaft earlier with the sealent you used. Anyway check your bellhousing area for cracks, I've broke 2. I would also do some reading on driveshaft critical RPM, Precision Shaft Tech has a nice reference chart. This bit me once also. Hope all you need is a new tailshaft housing. Nice car - would like to know how that interior goes.
 

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I would strongly advise that you disassemble the transmission and check the output shaft to make sure it isn't bent. It's also possible to damage the rear planetary carrier when a driveshaft fails.
 

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