At work I took the transfer case off the back of the turbo 400 just to change the leaking gasket between the adapter deal and the trani, and when I saw the output shaft I was just like what in the heck is with the splines. They were straight for about 2" which was where the spline's were mated with the transfer case splines, but from there forward they had been twisted! This was from to much hp and traction im guessing. Has anyone ever seen this before? I woulda thought the shaft would have broke before twisting that much, it prolly twisted an 1/8"! This is in a '46 Jeep with a big block Pontiac. It's meant for the sand so it has had paddle tires on it during its life, I think thats when it got max. traction. It's an impressive car. 2,700lbs. two 660 Holley center squirters and will do 0-90 and back to 0 a city block. It'll even get 11mpg on the street! Anyways I dont really have a question I just thought it was interesting.

Wheee!

It's common to think that the shaft would break before it twists.

It's kinda like bridges. When my fiance and I sit in traffic on a bridge, the traffic in the other direction will often times make the bridge oscillate up and down, which freaks her out. She thought the bridge should be strong enough to where it wont move.

But if you think about it, if it can't move, it will likely fracture and fail. It has to be "ductile" in some way to prevent failure. The same goes for axles and other shafts. They need to be somewhat ductile in order to survive harsh conditions. If they weren't, a small crack would develop and then it's all over.

That's pretty neat though. Wish I could do that.

That completley makes sense Matt. It works out perfect because the transfer case doesnt slide on the shaft like a slip yoke so its perfectly useful. I think its actually a pretty good design because the Jeep has already broken one of the rear end axles and the locker, those are alot easier to change out than a trani. part for sure. Im still amazed that a shaft that im guessing is an 1" in diameter is that malleable.