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Truck Crash Lawyer

18 Wheeler Accident Lawyer Reshard Alexander is licensed to drive big trucks and understands the cause when you are injured in a commercial motor vehicle wreck.

Drive Shaft 18 Wheeler Accident Lawyer

Seeking a Free Consultation with one of Texas’ 18 wheeler accident lawyers? Call the Big Rig Bull Texas Truck Accident Lawyer Reshard Alexander today at 713.766.3322.

18 wheeler accident lawyer Reshard Alexander is dedicated to holding professional truck drivers and trucking companies accountable for their negligence.

A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them.

As torque carriers, drive shafts are subject to torsion and shear stress, equivalent to the difference between the input torque and the load. They must therefore be strong enough to bear the stress, while avoiding too much additional weight as that would in turn increase their inertia.

To allow for variations in the alignment and distance between the driving and driven components, drive shafts frequently incorporate one or more universal joints, jaw couplings, or rag joints, and sometimes a splined joint or prismatic joint.

An automobile may use a longitudinal shaft to deliver power from an engine/transmission to the other end of the vehicle before it goes to the wheels. A pair of short drive shafts is commonly used to send power from a central differential, transmission, or transaxle to the wheels.

Front-engine, rear-wheel drive

In front-engined, rear-drive vehicles, a longer drive shaft is also required to send power the length of the vehicle. Two forms dominate: The torque tube with a single universal joint and the more common Hotchkiss drive with two or more joints. This system became known as Système Panhard after the automobile company Panhard et Levassor which patented it.

Most of these vehicles have a clutch and gearbox (or transmission) mounted directly on the engine, with a drive shaft leading to a final drive in the rear axle. When the vehicle is stationary, the drive shaft does not rotate. Some vehicles (generally sports cars, most commonly Alfa Romeo or Porsche 924/944/928 models), seeking improved weight balance between front and rear, use a rear-mounted transaxle. In some non-Porsche models, this places the clutch and transmission at the rear of the car and the drive shaft between them and the engine. In this case the drive shaft rotates continuously with the engine, even when the car is stationary and out of gear. However, the Porsche 924/944/928 models have the clutch mounted to the back of the engine in a bell housing and the drive shaft from the clutch output, located inside of a hollow protective torque tube, transfers power to the rear mounted transaxle (transmission + differential).Thus the Porsche driveshaft only rotates when the rear wheels are turning as the engine-mounted clutch can decouple engine crankshaft rotation from the driveshaft. So for Porsche, when the driver is using the clutch while briskly shifting up or down (manual transmission), the engine can rev freely with the driver’s accelerator pedal input, since with the clutch disengaged, the engine and flywheel inertia is relatively low and is not burdened with the added rotational inertia of the driveshaft. The Porsche torque tube is solidly fastened to both the engine’s bell housing and to the transaxle case, fixing the length and alignment between the bell housing and the transaxle and greatly minimizing rear wheel drive reaction torque from twisting the transaxle in any plane.

A drive shaft connecting a rear differential to a rear wheel may be called a half-shaft. The name derives from the fact that two such shafts are required to form one rear axle.

Early automobiles often used chain drive or belt drive mechanisms rather than a drive shaft. Some used electrical generators and motors to transmit power to the wheels.

Front-wheel drive

In British English, the term “drive shaft” is restricted to a transverse shaft that transmits power to the wheels, especially the front wheels. A drive shaft connecting the gearbox to a rear differential is called a propeller shaft, or prop-shaft. A prop-shaft assembly consists of a propeller shaft, a slip joint and one or more universal joints. Where the engine and axles are separated from each other, as on four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles, it is the propeller shaft that serves to transmit the drive force generated by the engine to the axles.

Several different types of drive shaft are used in the automotive industry:

• One-piece drive shaft
• Two-piece drive shaft
• Slip-in-tube drive shaft

The slip-in-tube drive shaft is a new type that improves crash safety. It can be compressed to absorb energy in the event of a crash, so is also known as a collapsible drive shaft.

Four-wheel and all-wheel drive

These evolved from the front-engine rear-wheel drive layout. A new form of transmission called the transfer case was placed between transmission and final drives in both axles. This split the drive to the two axles and may also have included reduction gears, a dog clutch or differential. At least two drive shafts were used, one from the transfer case to each axle. In some larger vehicles, the transfer box was centrally mounted and was itself driven by a short drive shaft. In vehicles the size of a Land Rover, the drive shaft to the front axle is noticeably shorter and more steeply articulated than the rear shaft, making it a more difficult engineering problem to build a reliable drive shaft, and which may involve a more sophisticated form of universal joint.

Modern light cars with all-wheel drive (notably Audi or the Fiat Panda) may use a system that more closely resembles a front-wheel drive layout. The transmission and final drive for the front axle are combined into one housing alongside the engine, and a single drive shaft runs the length of the car to the rear axle. This is a favoured design where the torque is biased to the front wheels to give car-like handling, or where the maker wishes to produce both four-wheel drive and front-wheel drive cars with many shared components.

There are an estimated 500,000 truck accidents in the U.S. each year. Nearly 5,000 of these result in fatalities. The remainder often results in injuries of varying degrees. With four major interstates running through Houston — I-45, I-10, US-290, and I-69 — Texans see more than their fair share of trucking accidents. Unfortunately, many of these accidents are caused by the negligence of truck drivers or trucking companies.

Seeking a Free Consultation with one of Texas’ 18 Wheeler accident lawyers? Call the Big Rig Bull Texas Truck Accident Lawyer Reshard Alexander today at 713.766.3322.

A lot of professional truck drivers work for big motor carrier companies who have law firms ready to fight the moment a driver is involved in a truck wreck. It isn’t unusual for a representative (safety director) of their company to arrive on the scene of an accident to solicit signatures from the injured parties to decrease their liability. If you’re involved in an accident with a large truck, then it is important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t sign anything placed in front of you from the professional driver, the driver’s employer or the insurer of the driver. In the event that you or a loved one was hurt in a collision between a large truck, you want an experienced truck accident attorney that will fight for you.

18 wheeler accident lawyer Reshard Alexander understands exactly what it takes to fight the legal teams of big trucking firms. I help families and their loved ones in a dire time of need. Time is of the essence in these kinds of cases, therefore it is important to call a lawyer versed in this area of law immediately.  It is best to consult an experienced Houston truck accident attorney to get help in seeking the claim. Call 18 wheeler accident lawyer Reshard Alexander to request a free case evaluation.

Drive Shaft 18 Wheeler Accident Lawyers

Seeking a Free Consultation with one of Texas’ 18 Wheeler Accident Lawyers? Call the Big Rig Bull Texas Truck Accident Lawyer Reshard Alexander today at 713.766.3322.

It is advisable to consult 18 wheeler accident attorney Reshard Alexander who will help determine liability and the right compensation amount that you should get for your injuries. The insurance company of the at-fault driver may not be willing to pay for damages and I can help you with the negotiation process. Call me today at (713) 766-3322 for a free consultation.

Houston Truck Accident & Injury Guide

Types of Truck
18 Wheeler
Ambulance
Agricultural Hauler
Auto Hauler
Box Truck
Bulk Hopper
Bus
Cattle Truck
Cement Mixer
Delivery Truck
Dry Van
Dump Truck
Flatbed Truck
Garbage Truck
Grain Hauler
Gravel Truck
Heavy Hauler
Hotshot Truck
Intermodal Truck
Logger Truck
LTL Truck
Milk Hauler
Mobile Crane
Oilfield Truck
Refrigerator Truck
Semi-Trailer Truck
Tanker Truck
Tow Truck
Tractor-Trailer

Components of an 18 Wheeler
Air Brakes
Differential
Drive Shaft
Fuel Tank
Head Lights
Kingpin
Landing Gear
Sleeper Berth
Tail Lights
Tires
Trailer Axles
Trailer Brakes
Vehicle Maintenance