Pic. 6.10. Front wheel drives: 1 - setting ring of the wheel speed sensor; 2 - external hinge of equal angular velocities; 3 - a large clamp for fastening the hinge cover; 4 - hinge covers; 5 - small clamp for fastening the hinge cover; 6, 9 - drive shafts; 7 - dynamic damper; 8 - internal constant velocity joint
The Beerfield-type external joint consists of a body, a cage, a cage and six balls. Grooves are made in the hinge body and in the holder to accommodate the balls. The grooves in the longitudinal plane are made along the radius, which provides the required angle of rotation of the outer hinge. The splined tip of the outer hinge housing is installed in the front wheel hub and attached to it with a nut.
The outer hinge cage is mounted on the splines of the shaft and fixed on the shaft with a retaining ring.
The internal hinge of a car with an automatic transmission of the Tripod type consists of a body and three rollers on needle bearings, put on the trunnions of a three-spike hub. Grooves for rollers are made in the hinge body. The three-spike hub is fixed on the shaft with a retaining ring, the rollers allow the hub to move in the grooves of the hinge body in the axial direction, so that the drive can lengthen or shorten to compensate for the mutual movements of the suspension and the power unit. The splined tip of the inner joint housing is fixed in the side gear of the differential with a snap ring.
Balls of one sorting group are installed in Bearfield-type hinges. All parts of the hinge are selectively matched to each other, so it is impossible to repair the hinge by replacing individual parts, and only the hinge assembly and a small repair kit, which includes a retaining ring, a boot and boot clamps, and in some cases, grease, are supplied as spare parts.
The Tripod type hinge is delivered to spare parts in the form of two repair kits: a large one, which includes all the details of the hinge, and a small one, which is similar to the outer hinge repair kit.
To lubricate the hinges, a special lubricant with molybdenum disulfide is used. The cavities of all hinges are protected from road dirt and water by rubber corrugated covers 4, fixed on the hinge bodies and on the drive shafts with large 3 and small 5 clamps, respectively.
External and internal hinges of equal angular speeds of both drives are the same. However, the drive shafts differ in length, so the right and left wheel drives are not interchangeable. To reduce vibration in the transmission, a dynamic damper 7 is installed on the shaft of the right drive, fixed with clamps similar to small clamps 5 of covers 4.
Helpful advice: Drive joints are very durable, their design life is almost equal to that of a car. However, in operation they are changed or repaired quite often due to damage to the protective covers. Such work is quite expensive and laborious. In order to save a lot of money, regularly check the condition of the protective covers of the hinges and immediately replace them at the slightest damage. If water or dust gets into the hinge through a damaged cover, it will fail after several hundred kilometers. The sealed hinge wears out extremely slowly.