Patent ID: 7503867

Claim:
An axle center for the forward axle of a tandem axle drive, said axle center comprising: a housing; an input shaft located in the housing and projecting out of the housing for coupling to a drive shaft; and front and rear antifriction bearings supporting the input shaft in the housing for rotation about a primary axis, each bearing being configured to transfer a radial load and an axial load, the bearings being mounted in opposition, the front bearing including an inner raceway carried by the input shaft and presented outwardly away from the axis, an outer race threaded into the housing and having an outer raceway presented inwardly toward the inner raceway, and rolling elements located between the inner and outer raceways, the front bearing further including a locking ring attached to its outer race at one end of that race and lying along the housing where it is divided into multiple segments arranged circumferentially, one of the segments being bent outwardly in the provision of a tab that engages the housing and prevents the outer race from rotating in the housing; whereby rotation of the outer race before a segment is bent outwardly will displace the outer race axially and control the setting of the bearings.