What is a Half Shaft?
1 Answers
Half shaft, also known as drive shaft, refers to the shaft that transmits torque between the gearbox reducer and the drive wheel. It has a universal joint at each end, connecting to the splines on the universal joint, the reducer gears, and the inner ring of the hub bearing. The function of the half shaft is to transmit power between the differential and the drive wheels. Modern vehicles commonly use two types of half shafts based on their support configurations: full-floating and semi-floating. The full-floating half shaft only transmits torque and does not bear any reaction forces or bending moments. When paired with independent suspension, it helps improve vehicle comfort, making it widely used in various types of vehicles. The full-floating half shaft is easy to install and remove; during maintenance, simply unscrew the fixing bolts to extract the half shaft, while the wheel and axle housing can still support the vehicle, facilitating vehicle maintenance. The semi-floating half shaft transmits torque while bearing all reaction forces and bending moments. Its support structure is simple and mainly suitable for pickup trucks and SUVs with lower comfort requirements. However, this type of half shaft support is troublesome to remove, and if the half shaft breaks during driving, it may cause the wheel to detach, posing a safety hazard.
