Contents: Cardan shaft ↳ Rear axle ↳
Cardan shaft
The cardan shaft of Ford Sierra cars consists of two parts. In cars with a 1.3 dm³ engine, it has one elastic joint (front), as well as two cross-shaped joints, while in cars with 1.6 and 2.0 dm³ engines, it has three cross-shaped joints.
The front part of the shaft is balanced as a single unit after installation. If the shaft parts are disconnected during their assembly, care should be taken to maintain the mutual arrangement of the alignment marks (the depressions made with a center punch on the shaft, as well as the wide line on the crosspiece), which should lie on the same line. The crosspieces of the joints have needle bearings, sealed to protect against contamination. The cross-shaped joints form a non-separable unit with the shaft, which, if necessary, should be replaced entirely.
Rear axle
The rear axle has a rigid suspension, at the front on the rear axle beam, and at the rear through metal-rubber elements to the body. The main gear is hypoid.
The main transmission gear rotates in two tapered bearings with an initial tension realized by means of a deformable spacer sleeve.
The adjustment of the engagement of the main gear teeth is carried out by selecting the thickness of the linings between the internal bearing of the gear and the main gear gear.
Adjustment of the inter-tooth clearance of the main gear, as well as the initial tension of the differential bearings, is carried out using two adjusting flanges with protrusions.
The axle gears are mounted on the axle splines and secured with a retaining ring.