The car has a rigid rear axle in the form of a beam, consisting of the final drive housing and semi-axle covers pressed into it
The main gear with the differential form a gearbox that is installed in the crankcase hole and secured with bolts.
This bridge design is called a banjo bridge.
Some of the cars are equipped with a fixed gearbox, the parts of which are directly installed in the axle housing.
The main gear is hypoid, the axis of the drive gear is shifted down relative to the axis of the driven gear by 42 mm.
The final drive ratio is 5.125 (on vehicles with ZMZ-406 and ZMZ-402 engines), or 4.556 (with UMZ-4215 engines).
The drive gear is made integral with the shaft and mounted on two tapered roller bearings.
The bearing preload is determined by a spacer ring mounted on the shaft between them.
The position of the drive gear relative to the driven gear is set by the adjusting ring placed between the gear and its inner bearing.
The driven gear is bolted to the differential box and together with it is mounted on two tapered roller bearings.
The bearings are adjusted with ring nuts and they can also change the position of the driven gear relative to the drive gear.
The differential pinion box consists of two bolted parts.
It has two pinion axles, four pinion gears and two side bevel gears with support washers.
The splined ends of the axle shafts enter the splined holes of the side gears.
At opposite ends of the axle shafts, flanges are made, which are connected to the rear wheel hubs using eight studs with nuts.
Each hub is mounted on the housing of the rear axle shafts on two tapered roller bearings.
They are adjusted with nuts screwed onto the threaded ends of the casings.
Six bolts are pressed into the hub, to which the twin rear wheels with a brake drum are attached with nuts.
The rear axle is lubricated with gear oil filled into the crankcase in a volume of 3.0 liters (2.2 liters for an axle with a fixed gearbox).
The wheel bearings are lubricated with the same oil that enters the hubs from the crankcase through the axle housings.
The oil is kept from flowing out by rubber cuffs mounted on the pinion shaft and in the hubs.
A breather is installed on the left side of the crankcase to prevent pressure build-up inside the axle during its operation.
Remove the rear axle
It is more convenient to work on a viewing ditch, it is better with an assistant.
Draining the oil (see Changing the oil in the rear axle gearbox car Gazelle).
Disconnect the driveline from the rear axle (see Inspection and removal of the driveshaft car Gazelle ).
Disconnect the handbrake cables from the equalizer.
Disconnect the pressure regulator rod and shock absorbers from the rear axle.
Disconnect the rear brake hose.
We hang the rear of the car with a jack with a load capacity of at least 2 tons, installing it under the main gear housing, substituting two factory-made racks about 700 mm high and also with a load capacity of at least 2 tons under the ends of the frame side members.
Leave the jack under the middle of the rear axle.
Removing the rear wheels on both sides (see Removing the rear wheels and axle shafts car Gazelle).
With a “24” head, we unscrew the four nuts of the rear spring ladders on both sides of the car
When removing spring and regular washers, pay attention to the order in which they are installed.
Remove the spring ladders
Remove the spring covers.
We lower the bridge onto the trolley with a jack and roll it out from under the car
This operation can be performed using a rolling jack.
If you don't have a rolling jack, you can put two wheels on the rear axle and roll out the axle on wheels.
Install the bridge in reverse order.
After installing the bridge, adjust the pressure regulator.