Main Components of Transmission System

1. Clutch
2. Gear Box
3. Transfer Case
4. Propeller Shaft and Universal Joints.
5. Final Drive
6. Differential
7. Torque Tube
8. Road Wheel

CLUTCH
A clutch is a mechanism which enables
the rotary motion of one shaft to be transmitted
at will to second shaft, whose axis is coincident
with that of first.
Clutch is located between engine and
gear box. When the clutch is engaged, the
power flows from the engine to the rear wheels
through the transmission system and the vehicle
moves. When the clutch is disengaged, the
power is not transmitted to the rear wheels and
the vehicle stops, while the engine is still
running. Clutch is disengaged when-

a) Starting the engine,

b) Shifting the gears,
c) Idling the engine
Clutch is engaged only when the vehicle is to move and is kept engaged when the vehicle is moving.
Besides this the clutch provides a smooth start of the car.
Function of a Clutch:
a) To permit engagement or disengagement of a gear when the vehicle is stationary and the engine is
running
b) To transmit the engine power to the road wheels smoothly without shock to the transmission
system while setting the wheel in motion.
c) To permit the engaging of gears when the vehicle is in motion without damaging the gear wheels.

Principle of Operation of a Clutch

 The clutch principle is based on friction. When two friction surface are brought in contact with
each other and pressed they are united due to friction between them. If one is revolved the other will also
revolve. The friction between the two surfaces depends upon- I. Area of the surface, ii. Pressure applied
upon them,
iii. Coefficient of friction of the surface materials
Here, one surface is considered as driving member and the other as driven member.
The driving member of a clutch is the flywheel mounted on the crankshaft, the driven member is the
pressure plate mounted on the transmission shaft. Friction surfaces (clutch plates) are between the two
members (driving and driven). On the engagement of the clutch, the engine is connected to the
transmission (gear box) and the power flows from the engine to the rear wheels through the transmission
system. When the clutch is disengaged by pressing a clutch pedal, the engine is disconnected from the
transmission and consequently the power does not flow to the rear wheels while the engine is still
running.

GEAR BOX
The transmission box which is also known as the gear box is the second element of the power
train in an automobile. It is used to change the speed and torque of vehicle according to variety
of road and load conditions. Transmission box change the engine speed into torque when
climbing hills and when the vehicle required. Sometimes it is known as torque converter. Main
functions of a gear box is as follow:
 

1. Provide the torque needed to move the vehicle under a variety of road and load conditions. It
does this by changing the gear ratio between the engine crankshaft and vehicle drive wheels.
2. Be shifted into reverse so the vehicle can move backward.
3. Be shifted into neutral for starting the engine.
 

In any device two or more component works together and fulfills the required function. In a
transmission box four components are required to fulfill its function. These components are-
1. Counter shaft:
Counter shaft is a shaft which connects with the clutch shaft directly. It contains the gear which
connects it to the clutch shaft as well as the main shaft. It may be run at the engine speed or at
lower than engine speed according to gear ratio.
 

2. Main shaft:
It is the shaft which runs at the vehicle speed. It carries power from the counter shaft by use of
gears and according to the gear ratio, it runs at different speed and torque compares to counter
shaft. One end of this shaft is connects with the universal shaft.
3. Gears:
Gears are used to transmit the power from one shaft to another. They are most useful component
of gear box because the variation is torque of counter shaft and main shaft is depends on the gear
ratio. The gear ratio is the ratio of the driven gear teeth to the driving gear teeth. If gear ratio is
large than one, the main shaft revolves at lower speed than the counter shaft and the torque of the
main shaft is higher than the counter shaft. On other hand if the gear ratio is less than one, than
the main shaft revolves at higher speed than the counter shaft and the torque of the main shaft is
lower than the counter shaft. A small car gear box contains four speed gear ratio and one reverse
gear.
4. Bearings:
Whenever the rotary motion encounters, bearings are required to support the revolving part and
reduce the friction. In the gear box both counter and main shaft are supported by the bearing.
 
Working of a principle gear box:

In a gear box, the counter shaft is mashed to the clutch with a use of a couple of gears. So the counter
shaft is always in running condition. When the counter shaft is bring in contact with the main shaft
by use of meshing gears, the main shaft start to rotate according to the gear ratio. When driver want
to change the gear ratio, simply press the clutch pedal which disconnect the counter shaft with engine
and connect the main shaft with counter shaft by another gear ratio by use of gearshift lever. In an
gear box, the gear teeth and other moving metal must not touch. They must be continuously
separated by a thin film of lubricant. This prevents excessive wear and early failure. Therefor a
gearbox runs partially filled with lubricant oil.

TRANSFER CASE

A part-time transfer case receives power from the transmission and transfers it
to two or all four wheels of the vehicle. This enables the driver to place the
vehicle from 2WD into 4WD (four wheel drive) by moving of a gear selector,
pressing a button or moving a slide. The case can be independent off the
transmission or married, where it may even share the same case. The most
common transfer case is independent. An independent transfer case attaches
to the output shaft of the transmission and has a driveshaft for the front and
rear axle.

They can either chain or gear driven. Many manufacturers today use chain
driven transfer cases, because they’re lighter and quieter than their gear-based
counterpart. Gear driven transfer cases have more strength though and are
found on heavy applications. 
Part-time Transfer Case
The driver may select 2WD or 4WD and a high or low range with a part-time four wheel drive system.
The vehicle’s transfer case will typically drive the rear wheels in 2WD and engage the fronts if 4WD.
This is true in most transfer cases. The low range of a transfer case gear ratio can be as low as 3:1, 3.5:1
or lower. This is because torque multiplication is desired in low gear.

PROPELLLER SHAFTS AND U-JOINTS

Propeller shaft take power from the gear box output shaft without making any change in power, it
transmits the same to the input pinion of the differential unit, from where power is transmitted to the drive
wheels through rear axle.
Universal Joint
A universal joint allows driving torque to be carried through two shafts that are at an angle with each
other.
A simple universal joint consist two Y- shaped yoke, one on the driving shaft and other on the driven
shaft.
A simple universal joint does not transmit the motion uniformly when the shafts are operating an angle.
Because of this, two universal joints are used in a vehicle, one between the gear box and the propeller
shaft and other between the propeller shaft and the differential pinion shaft.
FINAL DRIVE
Final Drives and Differential Basics
The purpose of the final drive gear assembly is to provide the final stage of gear reduction to decrease
RPM and increase rotational torque. Typical final drive ratios can be between 3:1 and 4.5:1. It is because
of this that the wheels never spin as fast as the engine (in almost all applications) even when the
transmission is in an overdrive gear. The final drive assembly is connected to the differential. In FWD
(front-wheel drive) applications, the final drive and differential assembly are located inside the
transmission/transaxle case. In a typical RWD (rear-wheel drive) application with the engine and
transmission mounted in the front, the final drive and differential assembly sit in the rear of the vehicle
and receive rotational torque from the transmission through a drive shaft. In RWD applications the final
drive assembly receives input at a 90° angle to the drive wheels. The final drive assembly must account
for this to drive the rear wheels. The purpose of the differential is to allow one input to drive 2 wheels as
well as allow those driven wheels to rotate at different speeds as a vehicle goes around a corner.

RWD Final Drives

A RWD final drive sits in the rear of the vehicle, between the two rear wheels. It is located inside a
housing which also may also enclose two axle shafts. Rotational torque is transferred to the final drive
through a drive shaft that runs between the transmission and the final drive. The final drive gears will
consist of a pinion gear and a ring gear. The pinion gear receives the rotational torque from the drive shaft
and uses it to rotate the ring gear. The pinion gear is much smaller and has a much lower tooth count than
the large ring gear. This gives the driveline it’s final drive ratio.The driveshaft delivers rotational torque
at a 90º angle to the direction that the wheels must rotate. The final drive makes up for this with the way
the pinion gear drives the ring gear inside the housing. When installing or setting up a final drive, how the
pinion gear contacts the ring gear must be considered. Ideally the tooth contact should happen in the exact
centre of the ring gears teeth, at moderate to full load. (The gears push away from eachother as load is
applied.) Many final drives are of a hypoid design, which means that the pinion gear sits below the
centreline of the ring gear. This allows manufacturers to lower the body of the car (because the drive shaft
sits lower) to increase aerodynamics and lower the vehicles centre of gravity. Hypoid pinion gear teeth
are curved which causes a sliding action as the pinion gear drives the ring gear. It also causes multiple
pinion gear teeth to be in contact with the ring gears teeth which makes the connection stronger and
quieter. The ring gear drives the differential, which drives the axles or axle shafts which are connected to
the rear wheels. (Differential operation will be explained in the differential section of this article) Many
final drives house the axle shafts, others use CV shafts like a FWD driveline. Since a RWD final drive is
external from the transmission, it requires its own oil for lubrication. This is typically plain gear oil but
many hypoid or LSD final drives require a special type of fluid. Refer to the service manual for viscosity
and other special requirements.

Note: If you are going to change your rear diff fluid yourself, (or you plan on opening the diff up for
service) before you let the fluid out, make sure the fill port can be opened. Nothing worse than letting
fluid out and then having no way of getting new fluid back in.
FWD Final Drives
FWD final drives are very simple compared to RWD set-ups. Almost all FWD engines are transverse
mounted, which means that rotational torque is created parallel to the direction that the wheels must
rotate. There is no need to change/pivot the direction of rotation in the final drive. The final drive pinion
gear will sit on the end of the output shaft. (multiple output shafts and pinion gears are possible) The
pinion gear(s) will mesh with the final drive ring gear. In almost all cases the pinion and ring gear will
have helical cut teeth just like the rest of the transmission/transaxle. The pinion gear will be smaller and
have a much lower tooth count than the ring gear. This produces the final drive ratio. The ring gear will
drive the differential. (Differential operation will be explained in the differential section of this article)
Rotational torque is delivered to the front wheels through CV shafts. (CV shafts are commonly referred to
as axles)

The Differential
Differential was invented to solve a problem: allow each driven wheel to travel at different speed at the
same time the power is applied to them, this especially happens when making a turn.

As you can see in figures above, when a car does a turn, inner wheels travel a different distance from
outer wheels, forcing each ones to spin at different speeds. Since speed is equal to distance divided by the
time, inner wheels will spin slower then outside wheels.
Non-driven wheels are physically disconnected, so they spin independently. But not the driven wheels.
Those must be linked together in order to a single engine and transmission can spin both ones.
The differential is the device that solves this paradox.
If differential doesn’t exist it would be very hard to make a turn as one of the wheels tend to slip, and with
modern tires and concrete roads that force will overstrain all the axle. It’s the last stage of the power
before it hits the wheels and it’s inside a housing filled with differential fluid allowing to gears spin
easier. So, as we already saw, it’s jobs are:
 To aim the engine power at the wheels;
 To act as final gear reduction, slowing the rotational speed of the transmission one last time;
  To transmit the power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds (the reason
it earned the differential name).

Its location varies according to the type of traction the car is. In a 2WD front-wheel-drive car, differential
its located in the front axle; in a 2WD rear-wheel-drive car its located in the rear axle (on the right).

There are, although, other types of car traction like all-

wheel-drive (AWD) and full-time four-wheel-drive car (full-time 4WD) that need an extra differential
isolating front and rear axis (on the left).

Notice, however, that part-time 4WD cars (the ones

that allow switching between 2WD and 4WD) don´t
have a differential between front and rear axis, that’s
the reason they are hard to turn on concrete.
When in 4WD both axis are locked together in the
transfer case (on the right) so they have to spin at the
same average speed. That’s the same situation of two
wheels in an axle if it wasn’t used a simple differential
between them.

There are some types of differentials:

1. Open differential;
 The open differential is the one we have been presenting, a differential with standard
features, found in most cars.
2. Clutch-type Limited Slip Differential;
Clutch-type limited slip differential is a differential that are equipped with a clutch
allowing to connect or disconnect both axles in some situations.
3. Viscous Coupling;
The viscous coupling differential works without any kind of physical connection between
both axles actuating the input one on a viscous fluid dragging the output, allowing differences in
speed.
4. Locking and Torsen.
Locking/Torsen differential is very useful for serious off-road vehicles. That’s because it
allows to lock both axles whenever driver wants. On the left a locking differential, on the right a
open and a Torsen one.

TORQUE TUBE

A torque tube system is a drive shaft technology, often used in automobiles with a front engine and rear
drive. The torque tube consists of a large diameter stationary housing between the transmission and rear
end that fully encloses a rotating tubular steel or small-diameter solid drive shaft that transmits the power
of the engine to a regular or limited-slip differential.
The torque tube system is also used for other types of vehicles and machinery.
ROAD WHEEL
A wheel is a device that allows heavy objects to be moved easily through
rotating on an axle through its centre, facilitating movement or
transportation while supporting a load (mass),or performing labor in
machine.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=devo3kdSPQY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPaUJfA1KsY
http://www.mech4study.com/2014/03/what-is-gear-box-what-are-main-components-of-gear-box.html
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential6.htm
https://www.freeasestudyguides.com/transfer-case.html
https://www.slideshare.net/deep388/propeller-shaft-amp-universal-joint?from_action=save
http://leakylugnut.com/driveline/final-drives-and-differentials/
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