A suspended drive axle and agricultural tractor having same including a
central housing having inboard final drives and left and right axle
housing suspended therefrom by upper and lower control arms with axle
shafts extending outwardly therefrom to which wheel and tire assemblies
are mounted. A constant velocity universal joint is provided between the
inboard final drives and the axle shafts. The universal joint having a
pair of journal members and a coupling yoke that radially surround the
drive and driven yokes of the joint whereby the axial length of the
universal joint is minimized to enable the wheels to be located on the
axle shafts at 60 inch tread spacing. This allows the drive axle to be
used on a row crop tractor without altering the structure of the vehicle
from a conventional row crop tractor whereby the characteristics of a row
crop tractor are maintained.
