Tripod Joint

- These joints are used at the inboard end of car driveshafts. This joint has a three-pointed yoke attached to the shaft, which has barrel-shaped roller bearings on the ends. These fit into a cup with three matching grooves, attached to the differential. Since there is only significant movement in one axis, this simple arrangement works well. These also allow an axial 'plunge' movement of the shaft, so that engine rocking and other effects do not preload the bearings. - This joint is not a true constant velocity joint since the medium plane always lies perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft (not bisecting the angle between the input and output shafts). Also the joint does not have as much angular range as many of the other joint types, but tends to be lower in cost. Due to this it is typically used in rear wheel drive vehicle configurations or on the inboard side of front wheel drive vehicles where the required range of motion is lower. - Dimensions are approximated as a result this should be used only for demonstration purposes. - Higher quality animations can be viewed here: http://imgur.com/a/NLCos