My god i was out in mine today and the prop sheared completely in half right at the front before the uj. the bang was huge and the prop tried to beat its way out of the tunnel. did alot of damage, cut thro brake pipe, fuel pipe, wiring etc. bent the chassis big time in the tunnel, lucky it wanted to come out thro the passenger side. i was on my own thank god. good old vauxhall prop eh

Oh dear, hop you will be having a right old rant to the company that did the prop for you, must have been marginal on the welding, balance or both.

I've run some silly power / torque through props in the past and that is why I always insist on all new parts, bushed joints with grease nipples and a read out from the balancing machine.

Don't think you'll have much joy in getting the company to compensate you for the damage unless you can prove that it was the way they built it that resulted in the failure. Do you know anybody in an engineering company that might have a metrology lab??? If so might be worth getting them to analyse the failure.

[Edited on 9/4/05 by RogerM]

this is where it snapped
Rescued attachment prop-snapped.JPG

its a bit of a dark pic but you can see the beating the side got
Rescued attachment prop damage.JPG

Any chance of a picture of the mating part too... with damage/risk on this scale you should tell us all who did the welding, one for us all to avoid.

Very glad you are ok - it could have been worse. Especially electrical, fuel and brake all joined... I think you were lucky.

There is no welding at this point, its ok at the weld. it just sheared of before the uj. all i can think is the uj failed itself causing it to snap off where it did, there is half the uj missing on whats left of the prop. it eventuly dropped down and dragged along the road. My god the noise it made

as it a bought prop or a home made one?
It looks a lot narrower than most I have seen.
Cheers,
Pat...

Was it a new joint?

I hope the damage isn't too bad mate.

I have seen a few failed shafts and that is why it's on my "extra caution required" component list.

Good luck with sorting it all out.

im afraid it was not a new prop, it was a vx at the front to ford at the rear. and the moral of the story is........dont use second hand bits on your propshaft, they always look nice and strong but are they realy???? lesson lernt

That's what makes these posts worth while.
To inform others of any potential / actual problems so they occur less and less.
Bad news that it happened and I feel for you, but at least you're fine.
Pat...

Ok, maybe I'm being dumb, but does anyone use new propshafts ?
Can you even get them new ?

mine was "new" from mnr

there was another thread recently on th esubject fo props, a quick serach would find it. basically there are loads of places that will build you a custom prop new, based on whichever ends/fitment you require...

autoprop rings a bell as one place, but as i say there is a thread of suppliers mentioned recently..

Ned.

They aren't in every town but I have never struggled to find a prop manufacturer within sensible distance.

There are some things that I always use new or recon'd properly. Brake calipers, driveshafts, propshafts and steering linkages / racks.

Only live once.

only die once too !!!!!!

Wow what a lucky escape,

This highlights the reason why every kit we sell we persuede people to invest in a new prop ( the only ones we sell are brand new with 12 months warranty )
the extra cost over modifying second hand bits compared to new in most cases is £ 60 is it really worth the risk !!!!!

glad your ok

hopefully this will be a wake up call for many others

best regards

marc

OMG...most builders nightmare.....glad your ok.

my new prop made to suite my 442 chassis only cost me £110
from propshaft tecnolgy
its not worth the risk
glad your ok
dave

this is one of my paranoid fears, even with a brand new one.
has anyone considered some form of collar at incremental points, to hopefully limit the movement of the shaft should a break occur?

My other worry is the flywheel letting go, just next to my ankles

Glad your ok.

You were a lucky man mate. Makes you realise the importance of of things such as this. Makes u wonder whether we should plate the front end on the tunnel with thicker stuff..

Hope the damage aint too expensive mate..

Glad to hear your ok, i think you may have a problem getting any passengers now though! It still suprises me that props tend to go at the box end (well, all the ones i have heard that have failed did). I would have thought that it would be more likley to go at the axle end where it gets a harder time. Anyone explain this?

The point about buying a decent prop makes sense but a freind of my fathers who bought a fireblade engined car new from a rather well known company makes you wonder if they are really worth it! His prop failed at the adapter flange where it seems, whoever made it, had decided to turn down the weld to practically nothing to make it look more neat!

Northy: I too have always wondered about the flywheel bolts failing. I wonder too whether it would actually escape the bellhousing?

Andy

i have seen flywheels on x flows shearing all the bolts but, as they are on a spigot, and the fact that there is pressure on the clutch plate, and the main gearbox shaft is in a bearing in the crankshaft all of these seem to prevent the flywheel from coming through the bellhousing. However if one was to split up then it would be crutches time maybe. Has anyone ever seen this. The F2 stockcar guys actually sit astride there flywheel/gearbox/propshaft and in my opinion they've got a lot of balls to do this sport

I have only ever seen one flywheel failure. It was on a very high reving Mini engine (74mm bore, stroke reduce to give 999cc rather than the 1399 it would have had, can't remember the actual stroke). That engine ran a 16V head and could rev to around 10k. Shall we say that maybe we lightend the flywheel too much It destroyed the bellhousing and wreckedthe bulkhead too!!!!

If you are going for very light flywheels then go for machined from billet.

As for props I always have catchers of mine. Basically every 9" or so down the prop I form a ring out of 3x25 plate and size it to give about 10mm radial clearence. These rings are braced to the chassis with similar material (to top and bottom tunnel rails). In theory if it fails it should not be able to escape.

Just remember to bolt not weld the catchers on or else it will be a pig to do anything to the transmission!!

I have had too many "experiences" over 20 years of racing to take risks with road cars. Light is good but if the ultimate weight saving is that you are no longer able to get into it then it's not going to be fun is it!!

I've seen pictures of a flywheel that broke apart, it came out of the side of the bellhousing in little pieces!

Even worse if you've got an ali bellhousing, like I have!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dillinger1977
has anyone considered some form of collar at incremental points, to hopefully limit the movement of the shaft should a break occur?

---

Would have to be ovals on a live axle, can still be done but not as easily or tidily.

No its not caused by the lens of the camera, those chassis members where originally vertical!







Steel floor helped out.

Bad damage to a,b,k,c,d (book ref)

I was only watching an episode of 'Rides' (Clean!) the other day where they showed you a company that produced replicas of the "Gone in sixty seconds" 'elanor' shelby mustang. They bolted on an extra slung cradle underneath the prop area just incase of prop failure as they can then dig in and flip the car.

Time to get the welder out out billy


Cheers

G

Once saw a flywheel give way on a rally at Cadwell Park.
The car was an immaculart Kadett C GT/E, the ring gear spiralled through the bonnet, 50 feet into the air
Could have gone anywhere - driver and navigator very shocked!!

Marcus

Hey Mr.G, your showing off top building tips i picked up from ron champion himself, those brake pipe clips cut from a tin can. seems like ages since i did that

I'm feeling a little scared about driving one of these locost things now! There have been more incidents of this nature than I thought.

Mr G: Were you ok after that incident, it seems that prop of yours made a quick visit towards your side.

Andy

dont worrie m8, i was giving it some real s**t and with nearly 200 bhp im not suprised the car found its weakest link humbug

quote:

---

Originally posted by andylancaster3000
Mr G: Were you ok after that incident, it seems that prop of yours made a quick visit towards your side.

Andy

---

i'd still be up for a ride in the car when repaired, you'd be really stupid to let it happen again

just makes me worry that my chassis is at the powder coaters and I haven't put any extra protection in my tranny tunnel. guess i could always rivet or rivnut something to help..

ps for anyone with flywheel concerns you can get arp flywheel bolts that should be stronger than standard ones...

Scary - glad I chickened out of making my own propshaft!
Mine came from Autoprop - their car props are a sideline - normally they make props for trucks! I'd guess that they know how to make them properly.

David

[img]http://www.martelbrothers.com/product_image.php?imageid=100658[/img]

[Edited on 4/12/05 by The Shootist]

Nope - can't see that picture...


David

quote:

---

Originally posted by omega 24 v6
The F2 stockcar guys actually sit astride there flywheel/gearbox/propshaft and in my opinion they've got a lot of balls to do this sport

---

I have put alot of thought into the safety side of prop flywheel issue. Luckily the flywheel is just a bit infront of my feet and the driveshaft tunnel sides are 14 gauge . I know it added probably 7 or 8 lbs but it will take a real beating before anyone gets hurts. I havent decided on final HP as it will depend on finances but It will be no less than 200 and up to 400 if I deside to through some cash at it- not likely- but I have a family that depend on me so its a safety thing.
Dale

Recently we had a case here where the flywheel come off a stock car while it was being tuned in the pits "Revmore Motors" style. Flywheel caught a guy who was leaning over the engine in the chest and killed him.......

Fred WB

Rescued attachment propshaft ouch.jpg

does me think

over the picture in the book of Ron,

(the new version) where some one build a Bell Housing with holes in it to save weight they came away with it once...

Now i believe...

i also will make some prop securements
also because i have a bigger angle and an "exotic" adapter...

One question,

did came of in the first test rit?? or just after some hours of doing his job..??

because that's the part wich i scary most...not the testrits but once you go to the cinema and it lets you stay there..



TKS

All sounds potentially painfull, glad I sit a long way forward of all the spinning bits!

hmm my flywheel is about 6 inch forward of me feet , but ive never seen one come off on a volvo .

i think my trans tunnel is gonna get a couple extra layers of kevlar .