Patent ID: 8449430

Claim:
A transaxle for driving at least a pair of wheels of a vehicle that are spaced apart in a transverse direction relative to the vehicle, the transaxle assembly comprising: a housing; a low range gear assembly mounted in the housing and including, a ring gear mounted in the housing to rotate about an axis, a carrier mounted in the housing to rotate about the axis, a plurality of planet gears rotatably mounted on the carrier and engaging the ring gear, a sun gear mounted in the housing to rotate about the axis and engaging the plurality of planet gears, and a clutch mounted in the housing and selectively movable between a first position where the clutch engages each of the sun gear and the carrier and permits rotation of the sun gear relative to the housing and a second position where the clutch engages each of the sun gear and the housing and rotationally fixes the sun gear relative to the housing; and a differential gear assembly mounted in the housing and permitting at least one of the pair of wheels to rotate relative to the other of the pair of wheels.