Patent ID: 7731301

Claim:
An adjustable width drive axle operable to support a frame, said adjustable width drive axle comprising: an adjustable width axle body including a first portion operable to be attached to the frame and a second shiftable portion that presents one of opposite axle ends and is axially shiftable relative to the first portion to adjust the width of the axle; a sprocket rotatably disposed on the axle body and positioned between the opposite ends at a sprocket location along the length of the axle body, with the sprocket being configured to drivingly engage a drive unit; a rotatable wheel hub assembly rotatably mounted on the one end of the axle body to be shiftable with the second portion of the axle body as the axle width is adjusted; and a plurality of spacers configured to be removably affixed in any spacer combination between the wheel hub assembly and sprocket, each of said sprocket, wheel hub assembly, and spacers including an axially extending main body with at least one radial attachment projection extending therefrom, said at least one attachment projection of each main body being connectable to the at least one attachment projection of the adjacent main body to thereby affix adjacent ones of the main bodies to one another, said rotatable wheel hub assembly drivingly removably affixed relative to the sprocket, with one or more of the spacers drivingly interconnecting the wheel hub assembly and the sprocket so that as the axle width is adjusted the sprocket is maintained in the sprocket location and driving power is transmitted between the wheel hub and the sprocket by the interconnected spacers.