I had a prop shaft fail the other day on my classic clubmans (Diamond) and I have some thoughts - need feed back.
Very short prop - with 2 UJ's total length less the 1 foot, engine and diff both fixed (no movement) and prop shaft is constantly out of line. I can best describe the break in the prop as a fatigue crack. I have been told / and read that the 2 UJ's should be fitted at 90 degree to each other giving effect of creating effect of CV joint - mine were in line with each other. My thoughts are - if there is constant velocity at one end of shaft but fix and not allowed to have 'none' constant at the other then it will eventually give up and mine has done just that - it gave in to the laws of physics. I am interested in other peoples thoughts /experiences. For short periods this is probably not a big issue but it could be something we all have to consider (or maybe already have and I need to know about) Any thoughts?

The u/js should be 90 deg to each other.
The other trick is to have the prop rebuilt regularly - ie joints serviced and assembly balanced.
If that's done there's no reason why a short prop won't be ok on a clubmans car IMHO.
Pete

Hello,
In my opinion the joints should be aligned on the shaft (eg the joints welded to the tubular centre part of the shaft should be aligned), this helps to minimise the angular velocity variations.
Tim

Take it to Proptech at Hartlebury (between Droitwich and Kidderminster), they will sort it properly and know about Clubmans props. they are very reasonable.