4-Wheel Drive/All Wheel Drive

WARNING: This page does not describe the selected car, but rather 58 other vehicles, including the 2003 Saturn Vue, 2003 Saturn L300, 2003 Saturn Ion 3, 2003 Saturn Ion 2, and 2003 Saturn Ion 1. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

Front axle shafts are flexible assemblies which consist of the following components:

Constant velocity joint outer joint.
Tri-pot joint inner joint.
The front axle shaft connects the tri-pot inner joint and the constant velocity outer joint.
Axle shaft seal cover (1500 series).
The tri-pot joint is completely flexible, and moves with an in and out motion.
The constant velocity joint is flexible but can not move in and out.

The axle shaft is a balanced shaft that transmits rotational force from the front differential to the front wheels when the transfer case is engaged. The axle shaft is mounted to the front differential by bolting the flange of the axle shaft to the flange on the inner output shaft of the front differential. The other end of the axle shaft is splined to fit into and drive the hub assembly when the transfer case is engaged. The tri-pot joint and constant velocity joint on the axle shaft allows the shaft to be flexible to move with the suspension travel of the vehicle.