DEPARTMENT OF

AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING

15AE302 – AUTOMOTIVE CHASSIS

 UNIT – II

DRIVE LINE AND

FINAL DRIVE
HOTCHKISS DRIVE
 TORQUE TUBE DRIVE

• Here spring takes only the side thrust and supports the body weight.
• Torque reaction, braking torque, and driving thrust are taken by torque tube.
• One end of torque tube attached to axle casing.
• The other end is spherical in shape fits in the cup fixed to the frame.
• Torque tube encloses the propeller shaft.
• Propeller shaft is connected to the gear box by means of universal joint
situated exactly at the centre of the spherical cup.

• No U joint is required at the rear end of the propeller shaft.

• No sliding joint is provided because both the pinion shaft and propeller
shaft will move about the same centre (i.e. centre of spherical cup).

• In both the types of drives the side thrust is taken by the leaf spring.
 PROPELLER SHAFT
• The shaft which transmits the drive
– from the transmission (gear box) to the bevel pinion (differential) of final drive
in front engine, rear drive vehicles.
– from the transfer box to the front axle and rear axle in all wheel drive vehicles.

• It is also called drive shaft.

• It has three parts:

– Shaft.
– One or two universal joints. (depending upon type of rear axle drive used)
– Slip joint. (depending upon type of rear axle drive used)
• It has to withstand torsional loads.
• It is made up of tubular cross section.
• It has to be well balanced to avoid whirling at high speeds.
• It is made up of steel, aluminium, or composite materials.

FUNCTION OF PROPELLER SHAFT:

• It transmit rotary motion and power to differential.
• Transmit motion at varying angle.
• Accomodates change in length.
• Universal joints account for the up and down movements of the rear axle
when the vehicle is running.

• Slip joints are used to adjust the length of the propeller shaft when demanded
by the rear axle movements.

• It consists of internal splines on sleeve and external splines on propeller shaft.

• In vehicle with large wheel base, the propeller shaft would tend to sag and
whirl. So the shaft vibrate violently.

• It can be overcome by decrease the shaft length by dividing it in to number of

shafts.

• As single piece, two piece and three piece.

 UNIVERSAL JOINT
• A universal joint is a type of connection between two shafts, whose axes are
inclined to each other.

• Most simple type of U joint is Hooke’s joint.

• The gear box of any vehicle is at a higher level than the differential.

• As the propeller shaft connect these two, it is at some angles with the horizontal
axis.

• This angle keeps varying due to road irregularities and load on the vehicle.

• The universal joint can transmit power under varying angles.

DISADVANTAGES:
• The speed of the driven shaft does not remain uniform.

• Depending upon the angle of inclination of the shafts, the driven shaft speed
undergoes cyclic variation.
 CONSTANT VELOCITY UNIVERSAL JOINT

• The two universal joints are connected to make constant velocity universal joint.

• Here the variation caused by one joint is then cancelled by the second joint.

• This will be valid only when the angles on both joints are exactly equal. (which is
not always case in practice)

• This type is used only in the place where the connecting shafts are short.

• For eg, front engine front wheel drive, four wheel drive.
RZEPPA JOINT:
• The first real constant velocity joint, still in use is the Rzeppa joint.
• it consists of a hollow sphere to the end of the output half shaft.

• This sphere has grooves in which the balls move.

• The steel balls also fit inside the spherical socket..

• The input and output shafts rotates at equal angular velocity, through there will be
same angle.
DIFFERENTIAL:
 TYPES OF REAR AXLE
CASING
• SPLIT TYPE:
– In this type, the axle casing is made in two halves
and then bolted together for assembly. This type
has a major disadvantage that in case of any fault,
the whole of the rear axle has to be removed as a
unit and then disassembled. This type is obselete
now.
 TYPES OF REAR AXLE
CASING
• BANJO TYPE:
– This type of axle is one-piece type, shaped like a
banjo. The complete differential unit is carried in
a separate carrier which is bolted to the axle
casing. The two half shafts are put from the sides.
Therefore in case of any need for repairs, the half
shafts can be taken out directly from the sides and
the differential assembly removed by opening the
 TYPES OF REAR AXLE
CASING
• SALISBURY OR INTEGRAL CARRIER TYPE:
– This is similar in construction to the banjo type
except that in this the carrier (i.e) the differential
housing, has permanent housing tubes pressed and
welded in its sides. According to SAE
nomenclature, it is called the “ Unitized carrier
housing”. This type of housing is most widely
used these days in case of rear drive cars.
DOUBLE REDUCTION FINAL DRIVE
 DOUBLE REDUCTION
FINAL DRIVE
• Double-reduction final drives are used for heavy- duty trucks.
• With this arrangement it is not necessary to have a large ring gear to get
the necessary gear reduction.
• The first gear reduction is obtained through a pinion and ring gear as
the single fixed gear reduction final drive.
• The secondary pinion is mounted on the primary ring gear shaft.
• The second gear reduction is the result of the secondary pinion which is
rigidly attached to the primary ring gear, driving a large helical gear
which is attached to the differential case.
• Double-reduction final drives may be found on military design vehicles,
such as the 5-ton truck. Many commercially designed vehicles of this size
use a single- or double-reduction
DOUBLE REDUCTION
FINAL DRIVE
TWIN SPEED FINAL DRIVE
TWIN SPEED FINAL DRIVE
• The two-
speed final drive doubles the number of
gear ratios available for driving the veh
icle under
various load and road conditions.
• This unit provides a gear ratio high enough
to permit pulling a heavy load up steep
grades and
• low ratio to permit the vehicle to run a
t high speeds with a light load or no load.
• The conventional spiral bevel pinion and
ring gear drives the two-speed unit, but a
planetary gear train is placed between the
differential drive ring gear and the
differential case.
TWIN SPEED FINAL DRIVE
(CONTD..)
• The internal gear of the planetary gear train is
bolted rigidly to the bevel drive gear.
• A ring on which the planetary gears are pivoted is
bolted to the differential case.
• A member, consisting of the
sun gear and a dog clutch, slides on one of t
he axle
shafts and is controlled through a button or le
ver accessible to the operator.
• When in high range, the sun gear meshes with the
internal teeth on the ring carrying the planetary
gears
and disengages the dog clutch from the left be
aring adjusting ring, which is rigidly held in the
differential carrier.
• In this position, the planetary gear train is
locked together.
• There is no relative motion between the
differential case and the gears in the planetary
drive train
TWIN SPEED FINAL DRIVE
(CONTD..)
• The differential case is driven directl
y by the differential ring gear, the same
as in the conventional single fixed gear
final drive.
• When shifted into low range, the sun
gear is slid out of mesh with the ring
carrying the planetary gears. The dog
clutch makes a rigid connection with the
left bearing adjusting ring.
• Because the sun gear is integral
with the dog clutch, it is also locked
to the bearing
adjusting rings and remains stationary.
TWIN SPEED FINAL DRIVE
(CONTD..)
• The internal gear rotates the planetary gears
around the stationary sun gear, and the
differential case is driven by the ring on which
the planetary gears are pivoted.
• This action produces the gear reduction, or low
speed, of the axle.
• The rear wheels of a vehicle do not always turn at
the same speed.
• When the vehicle is turning or when
tire diameters differ slightly, the rear wheels
must rotate at different speeds.
• If there were a solid connection between each
axle and the differential case, the tires would tend
to slide,
squeal, and wear whenever the operator turne
d the
steering wheel of the vehicle. A differential is
designed to prevent this problem.
 LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL
• The conventional differential delivers the same amount of torque to each rear wheel when
both wheels have equal traction.
• When one wheel has less traction than the other, for example, when one wheel slips on ice,
the other wheel cannot deliver torque.
• All turning effort goes to the slipping wheel. To provide good even
traction even though one wheel is slipping, a limited
slip differential is used in many vehicles.
• It is very similar to the standard unit but has some means of
preventing wheel spin and loss of traction.
• The standard differential delivers maximum torque to the
wheel with minimum traction.
• The limited slip differential delivers maximum torque to the wheel with maximum
traction.
• Other names for a limited slip differential are non-slip differential, posi-traction, sure-
grip, equal-lock, and no-spin.
CLUTCH PACK LIMITED
SLIP DIFFERENTIAL
 CLUTCH PACK LIMITED
SLIP DIFFERENTIAL
• The clutch pack limited slip differential uses a set of friction discs and steel plates to lock the
axles together whenever one drive wheel experiences uncontrolled slippage.
• The friction discs are sandwiched between the steel plates inside the differential case.
• The friction disc is splined and turns with the differential side gears.
• The steel plates turn with the differential case.
• Springs (bellville springs, coil springs, or leaf
springs) force the friction disc and steel plates together.
• As a result, both rear axles try to turn with the differential case. Spring force and thrust action
of the spider gears applies the clutch pack.
• Under high torque conditions, the rotation of the differential pinion gears PUSHES OUT
on the axle side gears.
• The axle side gears then push on the clutch discs.
 CLUTCH PACK LIMITED
SLIP DIFFERENTIAL
• This action helps lock the disc and keeps both wheels turning. However, when
driving normally, the vehicle can turn a comer without both wheels rotating at the
same speed.
• As the vehicle turns a comer, the inner drive wheel must slow down.
• The unequal speed between
the side gears causes the side gear pinions to walk around the side gears.
• This walking will cause the
outer axle shaft to rotate faster than the differential
case, allowing the pinion shaft on the side to slide down a V-shaped ramp.
• This action releases the outer clutches causing the clutch pack to slip when the
vehicle is turning.
 DIFFERENTIAL LOCK

• Another alternative which is sometimes used to avoid the

slipping wheel problem is to provide “Differential lock”.
• When the lock is applied, the differential action is stopped
and the whole torque is then applied to the wheel, which
retains its grip on the ground.
DIFFERENTIAL LOCK
THANK YOU