Driveshaft - Automotive Drive Shafts - Vehicles - Front-wheel Drive

Front-wheel Drive

In British English, the term "drive shaft" is restricted to a transverse shaft that transmits power to the wheels, especially the front wheels. A drive shaft connecting the gearbox to a rear differential is called a propeller shaft, or prop-shaft. A prop-shaft assembly consists of a propeller shaft, a slip joint and one or more universal joints. Where the engine and axles are separated from each other, as on four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles, it is the propeller shaft that serves to transmit the drive force generated by the engine to the axles.

A drive shaft connecting a rear differential to a rear wheel may be called a half shaft. The name derives from the fact that two such shafts are required to form one rear axle.

Several different types of drive shaft are used in the automotive industry:

  • One-piece drive shaft
  • Two-piece drive shaft
  • Slip-in-tube drive shaft

The slip-in-tube drive shaft is a new type that also helps in crash energy management. It can be compressed in the event of a crash, so is also known as a collapsible drive shaft.

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Famous quotes containing the word drive:

    To drive men from independence to live on alms, is itself great cruelty.
    Edmund Burke (1729–1797)