AXLE PRINCIPALS

Axles explained

REAR AXLE GENERAL DESCRIPTION

If the engine is the heart of a vehicle, then the rear axle is its legs.

The rear axle supports the load carried by the vehicle as well as the weight of the vehicle itself. At the same time, it
increases the engine torque (rotational force) transmitted via the engine, clutch, transmission and propeller shaft by using
the final gear (final decelerating system), and changes the rotation direction 90 degrees to transmit it to the rear axle
shaft.

Propeller shaft

Engine Transmission
Clutch Final gear
Axle shaft
FINAL GEAR SYSTEM(1/2) The final gear system reduct the rotation speed
from the propeller shaft, increases the torque
and transmits power to the drive shaft.

Usually, it is supported by the center of the rear

axle housing, and it uses a hypoid gear to
Taper roller bearing change the rotation direction of the propeller
shaft 90 degrees to transmit it to the rear axle
Ring gear Drive pinion
shaft.

The gear ratio is selected to satisfy

Pilot bearing
performance requirements such as vehicle
Pinion travel resistance, engine output and rotation
speed ranges, maximum speed for the tire
Side gear radius, acceleration capability and fuel
consumption.

Taper roller bearing

Rear axle shaft

Differential case
FINAL GEAR SYSTEM(2/2) TYPES AND STRUCTURE
As shown in Fig. 1, the teeth of the spiral bevel
gear are slanted diagonally to lengthen the
meshing length between the teeth and increase
Ring gear
the strength.
This type has many advantages, such as
smooth and quiet rotation, and a relatively
simple tooth shape that reduces manufacturing
work.
In the hypoid gear shown in the Fig. 2, the drive
pinion is not positioned on the center line of the
Drive pinion
ring gear, but rather meshes in a position a
slight distance away. This distance from the
Fig. 1 Spiral bevel gear center is called the offset.
The characteristic of this type is that the offset
of the drive pinion enables the propeller shaft to
be lowered.
Ring gear This means it is suitable for a low floor, enabling
the vehicle's center of gravity to be lowered and
increasing stability.
Offset Compared to a spiral bevel gear that uses an
equivalent gear ratio and a ring gear of the
same size, the drive pinion can be made larger
and stronger.
Drive pinion At the same time, the meshing ratio is high and
the rotation is quiet, and there is no efficiency
Fig. 2 Hypoid gear loss.
PURPOSE of DIFFERENTIAL The differential system provides the individual
rotation required by the left and right wheels to
achieve a smooth ride when the vehicle is
driven around a curve or on a rough road.
When a vehicle turns, it performs a circular
movement around a point on an imaginary line
extending from the rear axle.
This means that during the same time, the outer
vehicle wheels rotate faster than the inner
vehicle wheels.
If the left and right wheels were connected and
driven with a single axle, not only would the
vehicle slip by the difference between the
When turning
distance traveled by the inner side and outer
side, wearing the tires, but the axle could also
be twisted and damaged, and the turning
motion could become unstable.
The differential system is used to address this
issue. It automatically sets a different rotation
speed for the left and right wheels so they
rotate smoothly without slipping.
Differences in the distance (rotation) between
the left and right sides also occur on rough
roads.

When driving on rough roads

DIFFERENTIAL STRUCTURE AND OPERATION(1/2) As shown in Fig. 6, the Ring gear (9) and drive
10,Drive pinion pinion (10) are part of the final gear system,
1,Differential pinion and (1) to (6) are components of the differential
9,Ring gear
7,Rear axle shaft system.
If, for example, the Ring gear is rotated 100 rpm
by the drive pinion, and the vehicle is traveling
6,cage straight on a straight road, both rear axles
rotate 100 rpm.

2,Side gear

5,Pinion shaft
4,Differential pinion
8,Rear axle shaft 3,Side gear

Fig. 6

100 rpm 0 rpm

100 rpm 100 rpm

DIFFERENTIAL STRUCTURE AND OPERATION(2/2) If the right wheel drops to 70 rotations, such as
when driving on a winding road, the differential
action transmits 100 - 70 = 30 rotations to the
left wheel, which rotates 100 + (100 - 70) = 130
rpm.
If the Ring gear rotates 100 rpm as in this
100 rpm example, the sum of rotations of both wheels
30 rpm
while driving will always be 200 regardless of
130 rpm
how the conditions change.
70 rpm
In a open differential system, if one wheel spins
and its drive force decreases, the drive force of
the wheel that is not spinning will also decrease,
resulting in an inability to move forward.

100 rpm 100 rpm

200 rpm 0 rpm

LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEM Limited-slip differential is a device that
transmitted to the wheel on the ground side
drive torque when the wheels on one side was
Case idle rotation. As a result, the vehicle can move.
Pinion shaft
Friction disc
Diaphragm Torque difference is generated in the left and
right rotational difference is generated in the
side gears, the pinion gear starts to rotate. At
this time, it generates a force in the direction of
the pinion shaft push the cams of the pressure
ring according to the torque difference. By the
force of the thrust according to the cam angle,
generated in the axial direction, the pressure
Friction plate
Pressure ring Pressure ring ring is pressed against the friction disk and the
friction plate, and performs the differential
Fig. 7
limiting torque difference between the right and
left.
Driving force

Pinion shaft

Pressure ring
 INTER AXLE DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEM
INTER AXLE DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEM The inter axle differential system is used in a
tandem drive axle. The power received by the
rear front most axle from the propeller shaft is
split and transmitted to the rear front most axle
and rear rearmost axle by the inter axle
differential. When driving on poor road surfaces
or in similar conditions, rotation speed
differences between the front and rear axles are
absorbed by the differential system, which
extends the service life of the tires and
improves the steering characteristics. This also
dampens the impact torque, improving the
reliability of the drive system.
Inter axle differential
If either of the drive axles becomes prone to
Drive gear slipping when driving on road surfaces such as
Sleeve muddy or sandy ground, the differential lock
Through shaft system operates to directly connect the front
and rear axles. The drive force is applied to the
axle that has the better conditions, making it
easier for the vehicle to get out.

Propeller shaft

Rear front Rear rear

FRONT AXLE GENERAL DESCRIPTION Structurally, the entire weight of a vehicle is
supported by the axles and wheels on the front
and rear, and is driven by the drive wheels. The
axle positioned in the front is called the front
axle, and the axle positioned in the rear is
called the rear axle. The axles consist of the
axle that transmits the drive force from the
Shock absorber
engine and the axle that does not transmit drive
force. The former is called the drive axle and
Shackle
the latter is called the dead axle.
Because the dead axle does not transmit drive
force, its structure is relatively simple. In front
drive vehicles, the dead axle is the rear axle,
Leaf spring Axle and in rear drive vehicles, it is the front axle.
Also, in vehicles such as heavy-duty trucks with
2 or more rear axles, the rear axles that do not
drive the vehicle are also dead axles.
U bolt
AXLE TYPES Front axles are divided into axle types and split
types, depending on their structure. They are
also divided into front wheel drive types and
rear wheel drive types, depending on the power
train types.
AXLE TYPE
This type supports the vehicle weight applied to
the front wheels with a single axle. Nearly all
heavy-duty vehicles and light-duty trucks use
this system.
INDEPENDENT TYPE
In this system, each wheel is supported by a
separate suspension.
AXLE TYPE INDEPENDENT TYPE
This reduces the unspring weight for better
riding comfort. It is mostly used to the front
suspension of a light truck.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE TYPE
This type transmits the rotational force from the
engine to the front wheels, driving the vehicle
with the front wheels. It is used in trucks with
special applications and passenger vehicles.

FRONT WHEEL DRIVE TYPE

AXLE TYPE FRONT AXLE（RIGID AXLE) In a typical structure of an axle type front axle,
the axle is in the center and the parts required
for steering are on both ends.
When steering, the knuckles turn around the
kingpin axis, applying the required steering
I-shaped cross section
angle to the left and right wheels. The front axle
Lock bolt has a spring seat. The front spring is usually
Kingpin aligned with the center through knocking, and is
installed securely with a U bolt and nut.
Shim Bush
Because deformation of the front axle affects
Knuckle performance such as the vehicle's ability to
drive in a straight line, materials with extremely
Knuckle spindle high bending rigidity are used, such as forged
Axle
parts with an I-shaped cross section.
Usually, axles are used where the axle center
Thrust bearing and spring seat are lower than the knuckle
spindle center, in order to achieve objectives
Bush
such as lowering the vehicle and center of
Bearing
gravity.
Hub
KINGPIN The kingpin is the axis for changing wheel
direction. The wheels change direction to the
left and right around this axis.
I-shaped cross section In vehicles with a live axle suspension system,
such as trucks, this axis is actually used
Lock bolt sometimes.
However, in vehicles with an independent
Kingpin
suspension system, this axis does not actually
exist, and a virtual kingpin angle is used in the
Axle design.
Knuckle

Hub

Kingpin
KNUCKLE A knuckle is installed on both ends of the axle
via the kingpin. Its structure can be roughly
divided into a spindle section, flange section
and boss section. Components are installed on
each section; the hub on the spindle section,
the back plate on the flange section, and the
knuckle arm, tie rod arm and kingpin on the
boss section.
The knuckle is subjected to the front wheel load,
Knuckle
and loads such as impact, alternating and
bending loads also increase the supported load.
For this reason, strong material must be used.
Usually, materials such as high-carbon steel,
chrome steel and nickel chrome steel are used.
KNUCKLE ARM The knuckle arm is often made from the same
material as the knuckle, and is manufactured by
forging. The end is fixed to the knuckle with
tapered meshing and a nut such as a lock nut is
used to prevent loosening.
The other end is connected to the drag link with
a ball joint.

Knuckle arm
TIE ROD Tie rods are usually made from solid-drawn
steel pipes. They are connected to the left and
right tie rod arms in order to apply the steering
angle required for the left and right wheels to
change the vehicle direction.
Because the threads on the left and right face
different directions, they also perform toe-in
adjustment. If a tie rod is bent in an accident,
the toe-in and the left and right steering angles
will become misaligned. For this reason, the tie
rods are installed in a high location to the rear
of the front axle, to prevent them from being hit
by objects on the road.

Tie rod
HUB When the vehicle is traveling on a flat road, the
load on the hub bearing is almost vertical, but
when changing direction, it receives significant
thrust load. For this reason, a tapered roller
bearing is usually used.
Preloading measurement is required after
attaching a hub.
Hub
Since this form can support big weight on
structure, it is used for the track or the bus.
Axle housing

Axle shaft

Hub bearing
FRONT WHEEL ALIGNMENT The front wheels must move easily and precisely
when the turning operation is performed, and they
Camber Caster
must also be stable and return easily to their
original positions. To achieve this, a certain
relationship of values is required when installing the
front wheels. Values such as the camber angle,
kingpin angle, caster angle and toe-in are specified
for each vehicle model. These values are called the
front wheel alignment. When the alignment is
adjusted poorly, ease of steering and stability are
lost, and the tires may wear unevenly.

Caster trail

Kingpin Toe-in

Forward direction

Toe-in
CAMBER When the front axle is viewed from the front,
usually the left and right tires are not positioned
vertically on the road surface, but rather slant to
the outside by a certain angle. This angle is
called the camber.
The purpose of camber is to reduce steering
effort. When a camber is set, the kingpin offset
value is reduced, which reduces the steering
effort.
Fig. 8 Camber angle An axle with a camber tends to move in a circle
around point A as shown in Fig. 8. Because this
is restricted by the steering system and the tie
rod, promoting forward movement, the wheels
receive thrust force acting toward the outside,
as shown in Fig. 9. This thrust force is called
camber thrust and it varies according to the
camber size and load applied to the axle.

Fig. 9 Camber thrust

KINGPIN INCLINATION ANGLE Usually, the kingpin is not vertical relative to the
road surface, but is rather slanted at a certain
When the kingpin inclination angle is zero angle. The point where an imaginary line
extending from the kingpin axis makes contact
with the road surface is slightly further to the
inside than the center of the surface where the
tire contacts the ground. The angle between the
kingpin and the vertical line is called the kingpin
inclination angle.
Setting a kingpin inclination angle reduces the
kingpin offset and makes steering operation
easier. Also, because the front axle is pushed
Kingpin offset up when steering, it works together with the
caster to generate restoring force, and it varies
the tire camber to ensure appropriate turning.
Kingpin inclination angle

Kingpin inclination angle reduces the offset

FUNCTION OF KINGPIN INCLINATION ANGLE When the kingpin is inclined and the steering
wheel is turned to change the tire direction to
the right or left, the tires try to move down
Kingpin inclination angle relative to the vehicle body as shown in the
figure. This means that relative to the road
surface, a force acts that tries to lift up the body.
When the steering wheel is released in this
condition, the force that was previously trying to
lift up the body tries to return to the original
straight direction due to the vehicle's own
weight, applying return force to the tires. This
Lifted up
force is called the restoring force, and it
increases in proportion to the tire steering angle,
the kingpin inclination angle size and the
vehicle weight.

Moves down

Restoring force due to kingpin inclination angle

Fig. 10
CASTER When viewed directly from the side, the kingpin
axis is usually slightly slanted in the front to rear
direction. This angle is called the caster angle.
This value is closely related to driving stability.
While driving, the front wheels are always being
Caster angle pulled to the rear by rolling resistance. When
the caster is positive, restoring force is
Kingpin center line generated while driving that tries to pull the tires
back to the straight forward direction, making
driving more stable.

Front
TOE-IN When the front axle is viewed from directly
Forward direction above, the left and right wheels are not parallel,
but rather the front sides are closer together
than the rear sides. This is called the toe-in,
which is expressed by the difference (mm)
between dimensions A and B as shown in Fig.
11.
When a vehicle is traveling on a straight road,
the rotational force around the kingpin axis
generated by the rolling resistance tries to make
the wheels open out at the front. To prevent this,
a toe-in is set in advance.
Toe-in amount (mm) = B - A The relationship between the toe-in and camber
is as follows. When a camber is set, the
Fig. 11
boundary of the front wheels is the tire center
line as shown Fig. 12, and the left and right tires
slip in opposite directions while trying to move
Forward direction Forward direction
to the outside. Conversely, when a toe-in is set,
the tires face the inner side relative to the
forward direction, so they try to roll to the inside
while generating sideslip. This means when
both camber and toe-in are used, the effects of
both relative to the road surface cancel each
other out.

Fig. 12 Effect of camber angle Fig. 13 Effect of toe-in

WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND UNEVEN TIRE WEAR

When the wheel alignment is adjusted poorly, the

following abnormal tire wear occurs.
If the wheel alignment deteriorates after driving,
identify the cause and take appropriate measures.

a. Tires wear quicker on the inside on vehicles with b. Tires wear quicker on the outside on vehicles with
excessive toe-in. excessive toe-out.

c. Tires wear quicker on the outside on vehicles with d. Axle bending causes the same effects as camber
excessive camber. changes.
UNEVEN TIRE WEAR

UNEVEN WEAR SYMPTOM CAUSE

Insufficient air pressure,

Both sides of the or excessive loads due to
SHOULDER shoulder worn carrying too much on the
WEAR quickly all around. vehicle.

Excessive air pressure.

Center of tread
CENTER
worn quickly all
WEAR Rim is narrower than is
around. appropriate.

Only one side of the Alignment abnormality

ONE SIDED
shoulder is worn (camber angle)
WEAR
quickly all around.

Alignment abnormality
Block edges rise up
FEATHER (toe-in changed
like feathers.
significantly)
EDGE
WEAR