|
|
Dry joint 2
With the emergence of the all-wheel drive, the dry joint has once again become significant. Since also in a front engined car with front-wheel drive or a rear engine with rear-wheel drive, there must be a connecting
shaft between the axles. Indeed, because fundamentally with the independent suspension, the units in the drive-train are more or less mounted onto the vehicle flooring, low diffraction angles result and they favour the
use of dry joints, mostly in fact, in front and at the rear.
A further advantage is it's low weight. This fits in well with the concept, considering that the all-wheel drive poses weight problems anyhow. What the dry joints don't particularly like, is the enormous increase in engine
torque. In the case of large or highly charged Diesel engines and tractor/trailer vehicles with a great amount of pulling power they have to be replaced with solidly lubricated metal components.
There were problems with excessive torque in the past as well, where dry joints were also installed in the drive shafts to the independently sprung wheels. Indeed, not the little BMW 600/700, where the torque was
manageable. There were however, certain English sports cars, which when driven really hard, could destroy the dry joints. 09/12
|
|
