Quote Originally Posted by wbute View Post
A dropped front uni(which it isn't as you can still the uni on the shaft) will pole vault a car as it digs into the road. That's why you fit a tailshaft loop to anything that makes power. A rear dropped one will allow the shaft to flop around like mad until it falls out of the trans onto the road. I would say that's the most likely and that's where the trans oil would have come from. There is next to no chance it would have ignited on the exhaust I reckon. More likely a spark lighting the fuel leaking out of a ruptured fuel tank.
Fairly amazing if it twisted the shaft up though. It must have been made from exhaust pipe.
I totally agree, although I would change the word "flop" to "fling"! A tail shaft which becomes disconnected toward the diff end has to be presumed to still be turning under engine torque until it falls out of the gear box. So its not just freewheeling, its potentially still under power. The shower of sparks even if it just neatly dragged against the road are easily imaginable of course. I think WB brings up the best consideration though when asking what the tailshaft was made of.