Full-Floating vs. Semi-Floating Axles (What’s the Difference?)
Axles allow a vehicle to rotate its wheels. On some vehicles, the axles are attached to the wheels, while on others they are attached to the body.
In addition to allowing the wheels to rotate, axles can also support the weight of the vehicle. This applies whether you’re using a full-floating or semi-floating axle. The type of axle that is installed on a vehicle depends on the type of vehicle and its overall purpose. Full-floating axles
A full-floating axle connects the wheel hubs to the rods. This means that the rods are not subject to bending as they are with semi-floating axles.
The rods only bear the torque that is transferred from the differential to the wheels. Because of this, the assembly supports the weight of the vehicle, not the axle shafts. Because of this, swing axles can support much more weight than partial swing axles.
Vehicle types with swing axles include heavy-duty trucks, pickup trucks, and SUVs. All of these vehicles are designed to be able to tow extra luggage behind them.
With swing axles, these vehicles can carry this weight without any issues. With swing axles, the wheels are attached to the wheel hubs instead of the axles, which also makes the vehicle safer. This means that even if an axle breaks, the wheels will remain attached and continue to rotate on the road.
A major drawback of full floating axles is that they are more expensive to manufacture than semi-floating axles. This means that vehicles with fully floating axles are more expensive.
So if you really need a vehicle for transporting heavy loads, it’s worth investing in a fully floating axle.
Semi-floating axles
Semi-floating axles are axle shafts that connect the power from the differential directly to the wheels. The axle housing is on one side of the bearing and the axle rod is on the other side. This allows the rod to withstand the weight of the vehicle as well as torque and bending effects.
Because the bar is supporting the weight instead of the assembly, it can withstand more weight than a non-floating axle, but not as much as a fully floating axle.
Most 4WD vehicles on the road probably have semi-floating axles. The axle itself is lighter, making it very easy to install on the vehicle.
Finally, vehicles with semi-floating axles are cheaper than those with full floating axles. It doesn’t make sense to spend extra money on an SUV or pickup truck if you don’t haul anything regularly. However, semi-floating axles allow you to haul some weight and still save money.