DeTomaso Mailing List: September 2000, Message #163

Spicer half-shafts are generally regarded as bullet-proof, but I know of one (1.0) failure. The weld holding the leftside outer yoke to the tube failed at 1/2 mph while climbing a speed bump into a San Luis Obispo gas station. This followed a weekend at Las Vegas in which the car took to the track for 2 sessions and ran Hiway 49 at 'well above' 55mph.... The parts were obviously not weld-prepped correctly, but such problems aren't visible until they separate. I think it was a fluke failure. I have heard of NO failures of the 5-ton Ford truck u-joints used in Spicer halfshafts. Mine are 18 yrs old with zero problems so far. Cheers- J Deryke