Boom

[polara71]

I'd stop by, but I'm changing my u joints

Ironic, apparently I started changing mine yesterday

 

[1978 NYB]

Dave.....Any thoughts about building one with an overdrive unit while considering the current situation?

 

[polara71]

Not for that car, Missouri will be getting a GV overdrive unit, should be this winter. This however may throw a wrench into these plans

 

[detmatt]

Thatll cost me $20 bucks thanks to you

Lol! You can play the dad card on him though.

 

[polara71]

Then it will be thirty

 

[bluefury361]

I've had rear u joints fail and drop the shaft, but never with results like this. I did have a slip yoke bushing overheat and seize which resulted in a twisted trans output shaft. It turned out the reason for that was a drive shaft that was about 1 1/2 inches to short. I was just starting to experience a slight vibration before it happened.

 

[polara71]

Agreed Will, this was catastrophic . I dont see a Universal joint doing damage like this .

 

[barnfind]

The sprag failure that I've seen is mostly to the main case and parts grenading thru the tunnel, so I'm not sold on that being the cause. Odd the tail shaft housing is destroyed here.

 

[bluefury361]

OUCH, I've never had a Torqueflight fail this severe.

 

[Davea Lux]

That's curious, why?

Back in my misspent youth I had a similar failure. Was under full throttle operation, the transmission shifted into high gear at about 65mph. The next thing I knew, the car was doing the proverbial bunny hop. Then there was a very loud crunching noise as the drive line and tail shaft seperated and hit the street and went bouncing along the road behind.

Later took the rear end apart and found that a gear tooth from the ring gear had broken off and somehow gotten wedged between the ring and pinion gears. That broke the carrier and locked the thing whole up which in turn caused the failure of the drive line and tail shaft.

Dave

 

[saforwardlook]

I knew that would get a rise from you....

Uh huh. If you had put quotes around "guardian angel", then I might have believed that excuse.

All that aside, I notice on a number of cars I have bought that the two underfloor braces are often missing that would contain a wayward driveshaft and prevent any catapulting of the car that could be disasterous. I am wondering whether you had both of yours in place when this happened? In all my years I have not heard of a Torqueflite failing like that. I hope you can get to the bottom of it, as it might be a valuable lesson learned to all of us.

 

[polara71]

Back in my misspent youth I had a similar failure. Was under full throttle operation, the transmission shifted into high gear at about 65mph. The next thing I knew, the car was doing the proverbial bunny hop. Then there was a very loud crunching noise as the drive line and tail shaft seperated and hit the street and went bouncing along the road behind.

Later took the rear end apart and found that a gear tooth from the ring gear had broken off and somehow gotten wedged between the ring and pinion gears. That broke the carrier and locked the thing whole up which in turn caused the failure of the drive line and tail shaft.

Dave

I had a similar instance in 1989, my rear just about locked up on my Fury. Transmission was fine, the rear was toast. I was doing about 40 when the rear wheels locked and the whole car shuttered.

 

[polara71]

Maybe get some support under that pan so your your engine and trans assembly isn't hinging on your engine mounts.

Damn you Matt... damn you!!
I had to go out and put support under the trans to get that and the engine up a bit. After two hours of sitting outside with Diane I just couldnt look at the car any longer in that state .....

Thank You Matt

 

[LocuMob]

Th first step of your therapy.

 

[saforwardlook]

My sympathies for sure. What a mess.

Could the parking pawl mechanism somehow have failed and suddenly engaged, locking everything up such that the failure point was the output shaft? Normally when a vehicle is moving more than a certain low speed, it will not engage for safety reasons. But I would think the pawl itself and some teeth would be gone too - very wierd. Given the slot in the remaining part of the output shaft, it was probably the weakest point of the system.

All you can do at this point is dwell on the fact that no one was hurt and that your car sustained far less damage than could have happened, and it will be back on the road again hopefully soon with mainly some mechanical issues to deal with.

Hope all works out soon.

 

[detmatt]

Ouch!

 

[Big_John]

The shaft broke right at where the governor passes through it.

Since the shaft is still there, the ball bearing for the shaft is still there too. I don't think it's the cause, but see if it still turns or if it seized.

 

[HWYCRZR]

That sucks.
I would check your rear diff.
I locked up an electric two speed gear box mounted on a rear axle of an old Dodge truck going about 50 and up shifting. Something stuck for a second and made the driveshaft into a U and smashing into a saddle tank. The manual transmission with its short shaft and the long drive shaft being the weak link survived.

Could be wrong but not much happening behind the parking pawl except the drive shaft and rear end.

 

[tbm3fan]

You got the car up already and pulled the transmission? I am certifiably impressed. So I have a question? How high did you jack the car and then jackstands (?) at two corners or four corners? One day I need to get into a C6 and am looking for some pointers in how to get it out. If you can do a 727 in a few hours then I could do a C6 in a few hours.

 

[polara71]

The shaft broke right at where the governor passes through it.

Since the shaft is still there, the ball bearing for the shaft is still there too. I don't think it's the cause, but see if it still turns or if it seized.

The gear on the back of the case still rotates.It does seem to be scored