How To Choose A Truck Axle

The engine, gearbox and axle are the three main powerhouses of the truck. Although the truck axle is not mentioned as often as the engine and gearbox, it does play a role as a link in the truck’s power transmission process, and plays a decisive role in driving dynamics and vehicle stability. It can be said that the safety and reliability of a trailer largely depend on the quality of its axle system

What is an truck axle?

The truck axle is connected to the frame (or load-bearing body) through the suspension, and the bridge structure of the truck wheels is installed at both ends. Trucks generally use a front-engine, rear-wheel drive arrangement. In general, the front axle is the steering axle, and the drive axle is the rear axle. The front truck axle of the truck is mainly composed of the front beam, the steering knuckle, the kingpin and the wheel hub. Both ends of the truck axle are hinged with the steering knuckle. The middle of the front beam is a solid or hollow beam.

The role of the truck axle

The function of the axle is to transmit the forces and torques in all directions between the frame (or load-bearing body) and the wheels, which have an important impact on the power, stability, and bearing capacity of the vehicle. If it is used as a drive axle, in addition to the bearing role, it also plays the role of driving, deceleration and differential.

Classification and selection of axles:

Structure of the axle

According to the structural form of the truck axle, it can be divided into two types: integral and disconnected.
Integral truck axle: Also called non-disconnecting axle, the half shaft sleeve and the main reducer shell are rigidly connected to the axle shell to form a necessary beam. The integral axle housing is widely used because of its good strength and rigidity, which is convenient for the main reducer’s installation, adjustment and maintenance. Due to different manufacturing methods, the integral axle housing can be divided into integral casting type, mid-section casting press-in steel tube type, and steel plate stamping and welding type.
Disconnected axle: Generally matched with independent suspension, it is more common in cars, and trucks are generally only used by military trucks, not common in civilian trucks.

The role of the axle

According to the different functions of the axle, the axle can be divided into steering axle, drive axle, support axle and steering drive axle.
Steering axle: The front axle of the truck is a steering axle. The structure of the steering axle is basically the same. It consists of a front axle, a steering knuckle, a kingpin and a wheel hub.
Drive axle: refers to the axle that provides power output for the truck. Rear-drive models generally have two forms single-wheel drive and two-wheel drive.
Support bridge: no power output, only playing a bearing role. The middle or rear axle of some single-axle-driven three-axle vehicles (6×2 vehicles) is the supporting axle, and the axles on the trailer are all supporting axles. There is also a form of a suspension bridge in the support bridge. A suspension bridge refers to a bridge that can float up and down. The structure is basically similar to that of ordinary support bridges. There is an additional lifting mechanism. When the truck is heavily loaded, the suspension bridge is lowered to carry the weight. The no-load or light-load is to lift the suspension bridge to reduce fuel consumption.
Steering drive axle: The drive axle with a steering function is more common in cars, and trucks are generally only available in all-wheel drive models. The choice of single-stage deceleration and wheel deceleration The rear axle speed ratio determines the maximum vehicle speed. The rear axle speed ratio is the gear ratio of the main reducer in the automobile drive axle, which is equal to the ratio of the rotational angular speed of the drive shaft to the rotational angular speed of the axle shaft. , also equal to the ratio of their rotational speeds.

1. The manufacturing process of the axle
- According to the different manufacturing processes of the axles, the axles can be divided into casting axles and punching and welding axles. The more rounded axle housing is the casting bridge, and its axle housing is manufactured by the casting process or based on the casting process. Simply put, it is cast from molten iron. This kind of axle has low cost and strong bearing capacity. An affordable option for heavy-duty vehicles. However, its self-weight is also relatively large, which is not conducive to the lightweight design of popular vehicles.
- Most of the stamping and welding bridges are welded by stamping parts. Relatively speaking, its structure is much more complicated. For example, it must have the main body of the axle housing, reinforcements, reinforcement plates and so on. Due to the more complex manufacturing process, the production cost of the punched and welded bridge is higher, but it is precisely the complex structure that makes it less cumbersome and more in line with the current lightweight requirements for vehicles

The speed ratio of the axle

The axle can be divided into single-stage deceleration and wheel-side deceleration. If the rear axle speed ratio is increased, the single-stage main reduction axle needs more prominent pot teeth, the ground clearance of the truck becomes smaller, and the passability is poor. The wheel side reducer solves this contradiction very well. A reduction gear is installed between the axle head of the wheel axle and the wheel. The diameter of the main reducer’s pot teeth is reduced, the axle is raised, and the passability is improved. , can adapt to various complex road conditions. However, due to the more complex structure of the wheel-reduction bridge, it has a heavy self-weight, low mechanical efficiency, large energy loss, and more fuel consumption. The selection of the rear axle should be based on the specific transportation needs: the single-reduction axle is suitable for road transportation, has high transmission efficiency, and can reduce fuel consumption. The wheel reduction axle is ideal for vehicles with poor road conditions. The wheel reduction axle can improve passability and output a larger torque.

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Classification and selection of axles:

Грузовики
CNHTC

Запчасти для грузовика

How To Maintain Your Truck Chassis

2022 The Types Of Hot Trucks

How To Choose A Truck Axle

What is an truck axle?

Classification and selection of axles:

Грузовики CNHTC

Запчасти для грузовика

Грузовики
CNHTC