The installation space of motor vehicles is subjected to greater and greater restrictions. This also applies to the installation space for the driveline. At the same time, more stringent requirements have to be met by the mounted driveline as far as reliable residual out-of-balance is concerned.
In the case of present-day solutions, the rear propeller shaft joint is connected to the axle drive input journal via a flange connection, and it has to be accepted that the tolerances of the flange runout (in respect of the shaft journal axis), of the joint runout and the joint/flange fit are added up, a particular problem being the axial fixing of the joint relative to the shaft journal.
From WO 98/35174 it is known to connect the outer joint part of the rear propeller shaft joint directly via splines to the input journal of the axle drive.