PRESENTATION ON

REAR AXLE DRIVE

AND
REAR AXLE SHAFTS
Forces on rear
⚫ Wt. of the body
axle
⚫ Driving trust
⚫Torque reaction :driving or braking
⚫Side thrust
⚫The Hotchkiss drive is a system of power
transmission .
⚫It was the dominant form of power transmission
for front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout cars in the
20th century
⚫ Simplest and most widely used type of rear axle drive .
⚫ The spring besides taking weight of the body also take
the torque reaction , driving thrust and side thrust .
⚫ propeller shaft is provided with two universal
joints also a sliding joint .
⚫ The front end of the spring is fixed rigidly on the frame
while the rear end and is supported in the shackle .
⚫In a Hotchkiss layout,
⚫the axle is suspended by a pair of longitudinally
mounted semi-elliptical leaf springs, which serve to
locate the axle, as well as supporting the weight of
the body.
⚫The front portion of each spring functions like a
trailing arm, transmitting drive torque to the body .
⚫ The rear portion of the spring acts as a leading
arm, resisting wheel hop under braking.
⚫The stiffness of the springs also serves to resist
lateral motions. By making the springs perform
multiple duties, Hotchkiss drive is very simple, and
thus very cheap.
⚫ Since it has few parts, it's also very sturdy,
which is useful for heavy-duty vehicles like
trucks.
⚫ The differentiating characteristic of the
Hotchkiss drive is the fact that it uses universal
joints at both ends of the driveshaft, which
is not enclosed .
⚫ The use of two universal joints, properly phased
and with parallel alignment of the drive and driven
shafts, allows the use of simple cross-type universals
.
⚫Used in pick-up trucks and sport utility vehicles
.
⚫ The design problem that the torque tube solves is
how to get the traction forces generated by the
wheels to the car frame .
⚫ The "torque tube" transmits this force by directly
coupling the axle differential to the transmission and
therefore propels the car forward by pushing on the
engine and then through the engine mounts to the
car frame .
⚫In contrast, the Hotchkiss drive has the traction
forces transmitted to the car frame by using other
suspension components such as leaf springs or
trailing arms .
⚫ A ball and socket type of joint called a "torque
ball" is used at one end of the torque tube to allow
relative motion between the axle and transmission
due to suspension travel
⚫ Since the torque tube does not constrain the
axle in the lateral (side-to-side) direction a
panhard rod is often used for this purpose.
⚫ The combination of the panhard rod and the
torque tube allows the easy implementation of soft
coil springs in the rear to give good ride quality .

Torque tubes differ from the Hotchkiss design in that

a solid drive shaft is enclosed in a hollow
torque tube and rotates within a support bearing to
prevent whipping
⚫In both types of drive shafts the side thrust is taken
the leaf springs .
⚫A separate member is employed to overcome
this situation : Panhard Rod
⚫it is fixed parallel to wheel axis with one end pivoted
to the axle and other to chassis frame
EXAMPLES OF THE TORQUE
TUBE
⚫American cars of the Ford brand up through 1948,
which used the less expensive transverse springs
that could not take the thrust.
⚫The C5 and C6 Chevrolet Corvette , Mercedes-
Benz SLS AMG
Loads on rear axle
⚫Shearing force due to wt. of vehicle .
shafts
⚫Bending moment on account of load applied
through spring seats .
⚫End thrust caused by side forces on account
of cornering , side wind
⚫Bending moment by end thrust and its reaction
offered by tyres on ground
⚫Driving torque
Types of rear axle
⚫Semi floating axle
shaft .
⚫Full floating axle .
⚫Three quarter floating
type.
SEMI FLOATING
AXLE
⚫With a semi-float axle, the axle shaft both carries
the weight and transmits torque.
⚫ The wheel is often bolted directly to the flange
on the axle.
⚫ Semi-float axles are seen on cars and light duty
trucks.
⚫Semi floats are more limited in capacity, but
lighter and cheaper to manufacture.
FULL FLOATING
AXLE
⚫the weight of the vehicle is supported by the axle
housing- more specifically, a bearing spindle attached
to the axle housing , and a set of bearings in a
separate wheel hub.
⚫Torque is transmitted by a separate axle shaft that
carries no weight.
⚫As commonly built, full-floaters are considerably
heavier, but also much stronger
Full floating Axle
THREE QUARTER FLOATING
TYPE
THREE QUARTER FLOATING
TYPE
⚫ A three-quarter floating axle is the same as semi-floating,
with one difference. The outer bearing is moved to the
outside of the outer end of the axle tube, supporting a hub
assembly via the bearing's outer circumference edge.
⚫ The splined or keyed shaft drives this hub, to which the wheel
is attached.

The shaft now supports minimal vehicle weight (so has

much reduced radial load), but still locates the wheel
axially, and transfers axial cornering loads (side thrust) to
the axle inner bearing.