Beam axle

A solid axle is an axle mounted on the both rear or front wheels of a two-track vehicle and by which they are hung together on the vehicle indirectly. The opposite is the direct independent suspension.

When driven wheels of the axle body is a tube in which there are two leading to the wheels half-waves. The differential transmission is in a thickening in the middle or slightly off-center in the axle housing, which is connected in the simplest case, longitudinally mounted leaf springs with the vehicle (chassis or unibody ). In suspension by means of coil springs or air bellows, the axle is generally performed by means of arms ( the longitudinal arm, control arm ) of the vehicle. For kinematically unique leadership four links are required.

Pros and Cons

This type of suspension is simple and robust. It continues to be found in trucks and SUVs. Most modern cars have independent suspension instead of a rigid axle.

Advantages over independent suspension:

• Simple and robust,
• Low production costs,
• No reduction in ground clearance of axle parts during compression,
• No camber change with parallel compression
• Constant crash to the street at cross- body pitch
• Good track safety
• Less tire wear, less rolling resistance

Disadvantages over independent suspension:

• Large unsprung mass for driven axles by the masses of drive shafts and differential,
• Mutual interference between the wheels on an axle,
• Poor self-steering behavior on pothole routes when driving straight ahead,
• High weight
• Space requirements in building in center of the axis of compression

Special versions

Central axis of articulation

The central joint axis is a rigid axle with special suspension. It has a rigid extension to the front ( in front mounting to the rear). There is a ball joint, which is used for the suspension of the vehicle, among other elements ( links ). This axis is mainly used in cars. Because of their originally exclusively pedestrian -shaped extension, the term tiller axis is used in parallel.

De Dion axle

To retain the advantages of a rigid axle and reduce the disadvantages De Dion axle was developed. Here the differential is attached to the propeller shaft incoming and outgoing half-wave at the vehicle, thus reducing the unsprung mass. It was used in racing cars and sports cars.

• Chassis Technology