page_title: Driveshaft
section_title: Automobiles
hierarchical_section_title: Driveshaft / Automobiles
caption_attribution_description: propeller shaft on a truck
context_page_description: A driveshaft, drive shaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a part of a machine that takes power from the engine or motor to a place where useful work can be done.
  Most engines or motors create power as torque by making something rotate. This can be from an internal combustion engine, water driving a water wheel, or gas or water going through a turbine. This rotating power is called torque. The load that is turned creates torsion and shear stress. Drive shafts need to be strong enough to take this stress. A light drive shaft will more efficiently move the power to the load, so there needs to be a balance between strength and weight.
context_section_description: Most automobiles today use drive shafts to deliver power from the engine to the wheels.  Most cars made today are front wheel drive (the front wheels have the power to move the car). In this case, the drive shafts are between the transaxle and each front wheels.
  
  In rear wheel drive cars, there are drive shafts between the differential and each rear wheel.  There is also a drive shaft running the length of the car, from the transmission up front to the differential in the back - in British English this is not called a drive shaft, but a propeller shaft, or prop-shaft, and the drive shafts may be called half shafts (since there are two that make one axle). 
  There are different types of drive shafts used in automobiles:
  1 piece drive shaft
  2 piece drive shaft
  Slip in Tube drive shaft
  The Slip in Tube Drive shaft is the new type which helps absorb energy in a crash, protecting the people in the car or truck. It is also known as a collapsible drive shaft.
caption: A truck double propeller shaft
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