Patent ID: 9103427
Filing Date: 2015-08-11
Classification: B60B,B60K,F16C,F16H

Abstract:
1. An axle assembly comprising: a housing; an input pinion having a pinion gear and a pinion shaft, the input pinion being received in the housing and being rotatable about a first axis; a ring gear meshed with the pinion gear and rotatable about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis; a differential assembly having a differential case and a pair of output members, the differential case being driven by the ring gear; and means, consisting solely of a head bearing and a tail bearing, for supporting the input pinion for rotation relative to the housing about the first axis, the head bearing being disposed on a first axial end of the input pinion and comprising a plurality of cylindrical bearing rollers, the tail bearing having a single row of bearing elements, an inner race and an outer race, the pinion gear being disposed axially between the tail bearing and the head bearing; wherein a bearing groove is formed into the pinion shaft and wherein the bearing elements are received into the bearing groove such that the inner bearing race is unitarily and integrally formed with the pinion shaft.