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The Curious Bag
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Unless your car has no suspension and the axle is welded to the frame, it has some sort of universal joint. These versatile connectors are used to allow straight drive shafts to bend from side to side without breaking.
Other Names
Universal joints are also known as U-joints, Cardan joints, Hardy-Spicer joints or Hookes joints. A CV (constant velocity) joint is a variation on the design.
History
U-Joints date about as far back as any written history, but modern universals are loosely based on gimbals. One of the first recorded uses of this device was on Greek ballistae.
Function
U-joints use the principle of "clocked axes" to operate. By placing two small, perpendicular small axles at the center of the drive shaft, the U-Joint allows it to flex in any direction while turning.
CV Joints
A CV joint is simply a pair of U-joints clocked at 22.5 degree angles to each other and joined. This allows a greater degree of flexibility while turning without encountering bind.
Applications
U-joints can be found at either end of a vehicle's drive shaft. This applies to front-drive cars as well, which have a pair of CV joints for either side of the transmission.
Source:
Resource:
U-Joint Animation (Video)
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