Axle and Driveline Navigation

What does the axle and driveline do? | Component Reference | Animation of the axle and driveline components

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What does the axle and driveline do?

Components of the driveline are designed to smoothly transmit the rotating power of the engine, while still allowing suspension to flex and wheels to alter direction. Front wheels are usually driven by an axle that includes constant velocity (CV) joints. Differentials allow for the turning rate of a pair of wheels to be different, which is necessary during cornering.

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Quick Component Definition Reference

• Axle bearing:Located at the end of the axle tube and is lubricated by rear differential fluid. When the bearing has worn out, a growling noise is produced usually increasing with speed. 
• Differential assembly: The assembly in the axle that distributes the power from the transmission or transfer case to the front or rear wheels, and also allows the wheels to turn at different rates of speed.  
• Differential service:The rear differential is composed of the rear differential carrier, a ring gear, side gears, planet gears, a pinion gear, pinion shaft and axle shafts. All of these parts are housed in a metal case so that it can be filled with fluid. 
• Front driveshaft:A shaft that connects the transfer case output to the front axle input on 4WD vehicles
• Rear driveshaft: A shaft that connects the transmission or transfer case to the rear axle input.
• Rear differential:The rear differential transmits torque from the transmission to the rear wheels of the vehicle. The rear differential also allows one wheel to spin faster than the other especially when the vehicle is turning. 
• Transfer case: A drive unit located behind the transmission on 4WD vehicles that transfers the single output from the transmission into a front and rear output. It sometimes also includes a Low Range that reduces the ratio out of the transmission through gearing to increase torque but reduce speed. 
• U-joint:Connected to the driveshaft of the vehicle. It allows the shaft to bend while still transmitting power from the transmission to either the front or the rear differential.

Check out the animation below to get a closer look at the axle and driveline components.  

        
     

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