Fig. 6.6. Front wheel drives: a – left front wheel drive; b – right front wheel drive; 1 – external constant velocity joints; 2 – large clamps for fastening the hinge covers; 3 – hinge covers; 4 – small clamps for fastening hinge covers; 5 – drive shafts; 6 – internal constant velocity joints; 7 – intermediate support bearing; 8 – intermediate shaft; 9 – retaining ring
The Birfield type outer joint consists of a housing, a separator, a cage and six balls. Grooves for placing the balls are made in the joint housing and in the cage. The grooves in the longitudinal plane are made along the radius, which ensures the required angle of rotation of the outer joint. The splined tip of the outer joint housing is installed in the hub of the front wheel and attached to it with a bolt.
The outer joint collar is installed on the splines of shaft 5 and secured to the shaft with a retaining ring.
The inner joint of the Tripod type consists of a housing and three rollers on needle bearings, put on the journals of the three-spike hub. Grooves for the rollers are made in the joint housing. The three-spike hub is fixed on the shaft with a locking ring, the rollers allow the hub to move in the grooves of the joint housing in the axial direction, due to which the drive can be lengthened or shortened to compensate for the mutual movements of the suspension and the power unit. The splined tip of the housing of the inner joint of the drive a of the left front wheel is fixed in the axle gear of the differential with a spring locking ring 9, and the splined tip of the housing of the inner joint of the drive b of the right front wheel is installed in the axle gear without fixation, since the housing is fixed from axial movement by an intermediate support on the engine, the bearing 7 of which is pressed onto the intermediate shaft 8, made in one piece with the housing of the inner joint.
The outer hinge contains balls of the same sorting group. All hinge parts are selectively matched to each other, so it is impossible to repair the hinge by replacing individual parts. Only the hinge assembly is supplied as spare parts, as well as a small repair kit, which includes a retaining ring, a cover, clamps for fastening the cover and, in some cases, grease.
The inner joint is supplied as spare parts in the form of two repair kits: a large one, which includes all the parts of the joint, and a small one, similar to the repair kit for the outer joint.
A special lubricant with molybdenum disulfide (domestic analogue - SHRUS-4) is used to lubricate the joints. The cavities of all joints are protected from road dirt and water by rubber corrugated covers 3, secured to the joint housings and to the drive shafts by large 2 and small 4 clamps, respectively.
To ensure vehicle stability and improve its controllability when driving at high speed, the drive shafts of the left and right wheels are made of the same length, and the peculiarity of the layout of the engine compartment of the vehicle with a transverse arrangement of the power unit (the main gear is shifted to the left relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle) is compensated by installing an intermediate shaft made in one piece with the housing of the inner joint of the right front wheel drive. Therefore, the drives of the right and left wheels are not interchangeable. The constant velocity joints of both drives are identical.
Note. Drive joints are very durable, their estimated service life is almost equal to the service life of the car. However, during operation, they are changed or repaired quite often due to damage to the protective covers. Such work is quite expensive and labor-intensive. In order to seriously save money, regularly check the condition of the protective covers of the joints and immediately replace them at the slightest damage. If water or dust gets into the joint through a damaged cover, it will fail after several hundred kilometers. A sealed joint wears out extremely slowly.
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