TANDEM AXLE PINION SHAFT SUBASSEMBLY

摘要

A pinion shaft subassembly (26) for a tandem drive axle assembly is provided. The preassembled subassembly includes a bearing cage (84), bearings (86, 88) disposed within the bearing cage, a pinion shaft (92) disposed about an axis and supported on the bearings, and a driven gear (90) disposed about the pinion shaft. The bearing cage defines a mounting flange (118) that extends radially outwardly and is configured to mount to a corresponding mounting flange (40) of a drive axle housing (12, 14, 16). The flange is configured such that the subassembly is installed in the drive axle housing from the rear of the housing rather than the forward end. As a result, the housing may be made of a unitary construction.