This is a prime example of what happens to a driveshaft when excessive torque is applied.

It is common that the universal joint won’t fail even though it is the weakest link. Instead, the tube will twist sometimes tearing apart other times not. This can happen when a 4WD is climbing up a hill or the driver has accelerated too fast. Now the driver is stuck!

This can also happen when modifications are made to the vehicle and you can see our “modifying 4WDs” piece from a few months back.

Other possible reasons for a twisted driveshaft are:

When going up a steep hill in the wrong gear
Accelerating too fast from a standstill position
Roll back and switching between clutch and gears too fast
The tube may have had a slight dent, which creates a weak joint

We will keep you posted once we have a truck drive shaft in the same condition. Let’s hope that that’s not for a while now. Safe driving!