Front axle question
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 23,174
Likes: 1,678
From: Stephensville WI
OK, show and tell time.
Look behind that green thing in the picture. You will see the front axle. It consist of a pumpkin (iron lump about the size of a bowling ball) with two tubes coming out of it, leading to the wheels. The lump is offset to one side so the front driveshaft can get around the engine and transmission. That is a solid front axle.
Chevrolet uses an independent front suspension.
In this case the pumpkin is buried behind the blue brackets and bolted to the frame. The axle shafts are in the open, not in a tube like the Super Duty. See the one on the right, with the rubber accordion looking bellows on each end? The rubber things have joints in them that allows the shaft to flex. Because the shaft can flex and the pumpkin is bolted to the frame, each front wheel moves up and down independent of the other wheel. This is one form of independent front suspension.
Ford used another independent front suspension system called TTB.
Think of it as the pumpkin and one solid axle tube (like a solid axle) with the other axle tube going to the other side hinged at the pumpkin.
Look behind that green thing in the picture. You will see the front axle. It consist of a pumpkin (iron lump about the size of a bowling ball) with two tubes coming out of it, leading to the wheels. The lump is offset to one side so the front driveshaft can get around the engine and transmission. That is a solid front axle.
Chevrolet uses an independent front suspension.
In this case the pumpkin is buried behind the blue brackets and bolted to the frame. The axle shafts are in the open, not in a tube like the Super Duty. See the one on the right, with the rubber accordion looking bellows on each end? The rubber things have joints in them that allows the shaft to flex. Because the shaft can flex and the pumpkin is bolted to the frame, each front wheel moves up and down independent of the other wheel. This is one form of independent front suspension.
Ford used another independent front suspension system called TTB.
Think of it as the pumpkin and one solid axle tube (like a solid axle) with the other axle tube going to the other side hinged at the pumpkin.
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