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Axle: Keeping the Wheels on the Ground

Axles are the spine of a car’s drive train. They hold the wheels together and, since wheels prop the car up from the ground, bear the full weight of the vehicle. Early axle designs use a single steel shaft to link up the left and right wheels. In this setup, the axle maintains the position of the two wheels relative to one another. As torque flows to the car’s drive train and turns the wheels, the axle keeps tight rein of both wheels and keeps the car from swaggering. A single shaft axle is known to resist a considerable amount of car chassis stress and has high weight capacity. It is commonly used on heavy duty vehicles like trucks and wagons that are usually used to load heavy cargo.

A single shaft axle, however, has its own limitations. Linking up the left and right wheels means that both are going to share one suspension assembly and drive train. When two wheels have a same drive train, both of them turn at the same rate. At cruise speed the limitation of a single shaft axle is tolerable. But, when cornering, the left and right wheels follow different arcs, the one inside the curve smaller than the other. In the event that a car corners and both wheels are rotating at the same rate, the car’s traction on the ground is compromised.

As luxury cars and street sedans have shown, there is more to axle design than its structural features. Marquee brands like the Mercedes-Benz have wheels connected to the car chassis with a split axle. Split axle is basically a reinforced half shaft, usually via enclosing the shaft in a billet, or combining two axles, called tandem axles. Because wheels are supported individually, wheel rotation is determined individually for each of them. This will then result to improved traction when cornering. As an offshoot to the non-inclusion of the single shaft axle in the Mercedes-Benz drive train, the wheels are equipped with an individual suspension setting. Because roads are hardly uniform, wheels with the suspension setting lumped up usually means enduring a bumpy ride. With an individual suspension, each side of the Mercedes-Benz negotiates bumps independently from the rest of the drive train.

Aside from traction and suspension improvement, there are also specialized Mercedes axles that boasts of a capacity to enhance other parts of the drive train like the brake and steering assemblies. Drive axles, commonly known as transaxles, serve as front axle and enhances the Mercedes-Benz steering. Composed of two half axles, transaxles are split axles fitted with differential and universal joints. One of the joints in each of the half axle is a flexible coupling called constant velocity joint, which provides a pivot point for the axle when the car corners. In a rear-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz, a driveshaft to facilitate torque transfer from the engine to the wheels can also be fitted.

As an addition to its use on transmission and steering, the axle can also be incorporated on a Mercedes-Benz brake system that uses engine braking, although this supplemental braking is only needed and used on big vehicles such as sports utility vehicles and limousines. Engine braking utilizes the compression stroke in the combustion process to retard engine speed. When the flywheel compresses the air and fuel mixture in the cylinder heads, one byproduct is heat. This heat, when combustion takes place, is ejected out of the engine and exhausted from the vehicle. When engine slows down, the axle can flow less torque, meaning less rotational force to run the wheels.

About the Author

Dwyane Thomas is a part time cook and full-time auto-enthusiast. This 31-year old Civil and Environmental graduate is a consultant at one of the engineering firms in Pennsylvania.

I have a 350 trans in my 86 caprice can i put a 700 in it and will the cross member and drive shaft match up?

i have a 86 caprice with a vortec. i have a 350 tranny I looking to put a 700 in it. Is this possible and will my cross memer and driveshaft remain the same

sure you can put a 700r4 in it but the driveshaft will have to be changed and the crossmember will have to be moved, if you use a 200r4 your driveshaft will work and so will your crossmember.

Another podium for Robison in VRC
The Robison Motorsport crew of Jesse Robison and Adam Wright were very pleased with their second outright result in the third round of the Victorian Rally Championship at the George Derrick Memorial Rally based out of the western Victorian township of Avoca.

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