Town & Country LWB FWD V6-3.8L VIN L (1999)
Axle Shaft: Description and Operation
Vehicles equipped with either an automatic or manual transmission uses an unequal length driveshaft system.
Vehicles equipped with automatic transaxles use a solid short interconnecting shaft on the left side. The right side of the vehicle uses a longer solid
interconnecting shaft.
The left driveshaft uses a tuned rubber damper weight, which is a double clamp style damper. When replacing the left driveshaft, be sure the
replacement driveshaft has the same damper weight as the original.
Both driveshaft assemblies use the same type of inner and outer joints. The inner joint of both driveshaft assemblies is a tripod joint, and the outer
joint of both driveshaft assemblies is a Rzeppa joint. Both tripod joints and Rzeppa joints are true Constant Velocity (C/V) joint assemblies. The inner
tripod joint allows for the changes in driveshaft length through the jounce and rebound travel of the front suspension.
On vehicles equipped with ABS brakes, the outer C/V joint is equipped with a tone wheel used to determine vehicle speed for ABS brake operation.
The inner tripod joint of both driveshafts is splined into the transaxle side gears. The inner tripod joints are retained in the side gears of the transaxle
using a snap ring located in the stub shaft of the tripod joint. The outer C/V joint has a stub shaft that is splined into the wheel hub and retained by a
hub nut using a nut lock and cotter pin, hub nut retention system.
NOTE: This vehicle does not use a rubber lip bearing seal as on past front wheel drive cars, to prevent contamination of the front wheel bearing. On
these vehicles, the face of the outer CV joint has a metal bearing shield which is pressed onto the end of the outer CV joint housing. This design deters
direct water splash on bearing seal while allowing any water that gets in, to run out the bottom of the bearing shield. It is important though to
thoroughly clean the outer CV joint and the wheel bearing area in the steering knuckle before it is assembled after servicing.
