| 摘要 |
A vehicle such as an agricultural tractor comprises drivable ground wheels, each front wheel steerable about its king pin's axis. A drive shaft assembly in each king pin comprises two parts axially relatively displaceable so that loads supported by the wheel are transmitted not through the drive shaft assembly but through its housing. The housing is supported on a thrust bearing for steering movement. The thrust bearing has a greater diameter than bearings which support the shaft assembly and comprises a disc surrounded, above and below, by two flat rings, one of which is a two-part ring. In one embodiment, bevel gears under the wheel shaft turn the wheel shaft and the king pin is inclined to the underlying surface and largely contained within the wheel's rim. In the other embodiment the king pin is substantially vertical and received between a pair of wheels, an axle for such wheel pair driven by meshed bevel gears, one on the axle and the other above the axle.
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