OCR Text |
Show THE MODERN AUTOMOBILE By George Hergstrcmi. Instructor Auto-MechMUds, Ugdeu High s,'h""; Written especiallj for Tho Standard-Examiner i . THE I IN l- liHIX ! GROI P Continued. ' Hear .i.xles are 61&MiCli t!u way that thi-y cur-y th load of Uu c&r or takf thf drive, and thty divide them-k1vps them-k1vps in the followinf clawes; Fuii-lloatlng. Fuii-lloatlng. nevfn-clglithd floatlnK, threi'-quartera threi'-quartera floating, umi leniifloatlnf I'l l. lLOATINQ Rl U vi i In this ty pe of ror axh- we find that tho rear axle hQUVini has bean pi"-longed pi"-longed a Httlo to inhi: car- of lh-wheel lh-wheel The wheal 1 (aatenfed, or runs on bearing., thul art placed on th" hoiiKiiiK and they take all the J?elffh1 of the ar. Tho shaft does nothing lull drive, and Is no supported that no weight of the fur comes upon it Thil ;o.le shall Is romovublt at will and ' .ti le taken m and exammerl or replaced re-placed if neceaaary without disturbing t le axle housing tr ifhoell The axle haft itself la a trifle longer than thfl housing and .t i-1 . - (he r heej by a law clutch thut la usually made integral in-tegral with the shaft- This typo of clutch is much more expensive than the removable lype and has many g.iod points. A truss rod usually runa trunk one wheel (o the other and underneath un-derneath the differential houslnK. This helps to strength!' the whole construction con-struction of th axle. In many of these rear axles the differentia) unit can be removed from the hOU ln bj taking off the larse )lute al the rar, and taking out the bolta 'ba: hold It !n plat e Alt oget h v this axl- is aboi; the most expensive, and is very popu-ia:- with manufacturers of ioda si I -l IGH I IIS l LOATING 1TIM This axle was designed to overcome some of the defects that materialized I With the use of the full-floatlnK form. 1 'in in particular was thai In COSB ofi an accident to the rear wneula, espe- 'rially If struck from the side the' housing would usually bo damaged so, that it was ncrcatiary to replace the sam-. n many cases the wheels could not he removed and altogether It was) .' : expensivo proposition, The seven -eighths axle was developed devel-oped to overcome these . ry undeslr-able undeslr-able features of the full -floating types hut did not gain very fast In popularity popular-ity and is now almost obsolete. rif REE-QUARTER IMi SEMI-FIX) SEMI-FIX) vi i . n pi s The throe-(uarter type is quite pop-n pop-n ir with designers of toda, nid has many good features, 'file nxl" shafts curry only onequarter Of the height, and has all the featnns of tho full filiating type, and Is much less expen-, alvo to manufacture It has all tlie ad mtagea of the aemi'fioatlng and ,cost but juat a llttlo more. The full-; floatlnk Is much more popular now,! but on account of the three-Quarter I having the maximum Of advantages. ,and least number of disadvantages it is going to be used more and more. The aeml-floatlng type Is the simplest simp-lest and cheapest Its axle lhaftS are not removable without dlsembling the rear axle Itself. On account of its tjxjes carrying one-half of tho; . weight, the bearings wear out much sooner, the keys that bold tin wheels to the rthaft soon wear and need replacing. re-placing. There has been but littlo change in the manufacture f this type pf a vies for several years.- Rear 0JCl? housings play an important import-ant part in the construction of rear' axles. They are so designed that axlo, shifts and the differential gears areJ 'enclosed and can be run In haul oil or, i grease- They are usually mado of' pressed or cast steel, though other ma-, terlals are sometimes used. Aluml-; ;r.um has boen used principally on ac-: ; count of its light weight, but is not Very dependable. MalleaMo Iron cast-; lings have also been used, and is safej be ause It will not break or splinter. .and is iiulte tough. In case of breakage. break-age. If housings or brake drums aro' j made of pressed steel, malleable Iron or cast Steel, they can be repaired by! welding, either electric, oxy-acety lenc : orsom e other process To do thla the axlo must be removed from the ( aland al-and dissembled on account of the Kreat heat that Is used in either pro-' coss. ' |