caterham propshaft failure

[kerryxeg]

A friend was at Knockhill a few days ago in his Caterham. The propshaft failed near the bell housing, ripped through brake and fuel lines and broke his leg. Fortunately one of his pit helpers was a surgeon, so did a field repair on the leg .....not the car and he's now recovering. This may be a well known concern in the Caterfield community, there is certainly quite a lot of info on driveshaft retainers etc. I don't know if this one had any form of retainer fitted, but something to be aware of if you have one or are considering.

[mik]

On the track day last Saturday?

[van cleef]

I had this happen to me on my bike engined Toniq at 70 mph on the A96. Lucky enough Mine gave way right at the adapter on the gear box. It completely destroyed the back of the engine, and scared me so much that I had a prop catcher fabricated and fitted.

Lucky for me it was just my wallet that took a hit.

In my eyes a prop catcher is a must on 7 styled cars, kit cars with the prop running adjacent at hip height.

Hopefully your friend makes a speedy recovery and hopefully he'll be up and about soon.

[kerryxeg]

On the track day last Saturday?

Yes I believe so.

[Scuffers]

A friend was at Knockhill a few days ago in his Caterham. The driveshaft failed near the bell housing, ripped through brake and fuel lines and broke his leg. Fortunately one of his pit helpers was a surgeon, so did a field repair on the leg .....not the car and he's now recovering. This may be a well known concern in the Caterfield community, there is certainly quite a lot of info on driveshaft retainers etc. I don't know if this one had any form of retainer fitted, but something to be aware of if you have one or are considering.

Ouch!

Hope he's OK? (no permanent damage?)


Just for clarity, do you mean the prop-shaft? on a Caterham, this starts at the back of the gearbox, roughly in-line with your thigh when seated (depending on how long your legs are).

[mik]

Hmmm - mate was there in his Elise.

- one of 3 vids below.

Him and another mate usually have a 250bhp Westie there too - will need to ask him what protection they have fitted. :-/

Click - wet

Edit: I assumed his thread was about prop as opposed to driveshaft too.

[mik]

Just realised - he took pics too!

Bike-engined 7-a-like as opposed to a Caterham as I understand it.

[kerryxeg]

Yes propshaft, corrected just in case anyone searches in the future.

I don't know much about the car, other than he got it recently. He's at home recovering and probably checking that they got all the metal out of his leg.

[Doc883]

Hmmm - mate was there in his Elise.
- one of 3 vids below.
Him and another mate usually have a 250bhp Westie there too - will need to ask him what protection they have fitted. :-/
Click - wet
Edit: I assumed his thread was about prop as opposed to driveshaft too.

Blimey that Clio 182 wasn't hanging about

[thinfourth]

Anyone wanting a hand with heavy metal fabrication

Give us a shout

[Mr Momo]

Was it a Caterham or o 'look-a-likey' ?

[David]

Was it a Caterham or o 'look-a-likey' ?

I believe it was a bike engine Westfield and it was the center CV joint that failed.

Caterham use a single shaft, and they do fail from time to time, but it's usually associated with the gearbox tail shaft bearing wear. There were some faulty yokes manufactured too, but that's been sorted now. The high power cars should have a prop guard fitted although most upgraded cars don't have them. Recently, in the Caterahm forums, there was some photos of leg injuries - usually server bruising rather than wound or broken bones.