keith

I'll bet what happened is this: That original axle was swapped to the other side of the car instead of flipped when trying to extend the life of the CV joints. The axle develops a twist over the years, and in swapping sides, is asked to resist torquing forces against its developed "grain" so to speak, thus it is much more likely to simply SNAP.

Sound plausible?
I'd bet that was the case here.

BTW, I'm back.

Luke

Well, an open diff is harder on all the drive train components. The transition of torque, all to one wheel is abbrupt. With poor dampers, weight transfer can really tax your diff and axles.
Although a factory 40% locking diff. will help you save tires, axles and possibly you're 2nd gear (dont ask me how I know), it is much safer for the "average" driver to have the fail safe open diff. That's why Porsche stuck us wih em'. Understeer is much safer than over streer. (Porsche realized this with the 930's famous "trailing throttle oversteer" ) THe open diff is much more commmon. And I dont beleive we are "average" drivers. Maybe the first owners were
Actually, I believe these cars are dangerous with poor rear shocks and an open diff. It's way too loose in the rear ( I just wanted to say that) But seriously.

We chip gears for the same reason we snap axles and damage joints so easily. With an open diff. if you are turning and there is a puddle on the coner (very common) you will spin that inside tire that has less traction in the corner. As soon as you pull out of the wet, if you "grab" traction abruptly enough, YOU WILL knock teeth off a gear. IT HAS HAPPENED TO ME. thank god you lost an axle.
(get a locking diff)