On our 98 T5 Catfish, the steel driveshaft that replaced a snapped Aluminum one a month ago broke.
got it from a pullit yard, rolled okay without obvious bends.
motor and tranny mounts are recent and new U-joints were used on the 3800 with headers.

just bAd luck with used driveshafts, or drivetrain alignment issues?

tks

 

Make sure the torque arm is not loose.

 

is it operator error. your not dumping the clutch alot are yah.

 

Even if he was dumping the clutch he should not blow the SS aluminum drive shaft. Heck the stock V6 rear should be nowhere near strong enough to bust a SS shaft when everything is working right. I am not surprised that a steel on gave up quickly if he broke an aluminum one. Either something is binding like a u-joint or a pinion bearing or it is a drive line angle issue. Since there is no complaint about vibration my guess would be either during braking or acceleration something is shifting (something is loose). That assumes the car is straight and not bent like a banana due to pervious damage. I have seen cars come from the body shops that looked great but the distance from the center of the front wheel to the center of the back was ¾” shorter one side to the other. U-joints work in pairs and can handle one angle change like a car going over a bump. They can also handle the rear being cocked but they really do not like it when the rear is cocked and you go over a bump. The two angles can put a huge amount of stress on the item connecting them (aka the drive shaft)

 

tks for all the input!

car has been off the road, but never hit.
original rear end and 2nd T5.
spacer for rear shocks replaced with hose trick to lower.

car is driven hard but not with abuse.
perhaps after two shafts going, the pinion is fubar?

 

BTW, usual pilot complained of vibration above 70mph; I have no recent driving time in the car.
car has 180+k miles, runs great otherwise

 

If the vibration is coming from the rear end it could be the pinion bearings.

 

Lowering the rear will drive the driveshaft/slip yoke forward. Make sure the yoke isn't now bottomed out on the tail housing.