Section 11 (Axle Shafts - Front): Description
WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 1993 Plymouth Voyager, 1993 Plymouth Grand Voyager, 1993 Dodge Grand Caravan, 1993 Dodge Caravan, and 1993 Chrysler Town & Country. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.
Front Wheel Drive (FWD) vans use only the unequal length axle shaft system. Unequal length system has a long axle shaft on right side and short axle shaft on left side. See Fig 1.
The short shaft on left side is the same for all transmission and engine applications. The long shaft on right side varies depending on transmission used. Manual transmissions use a tubular shaft, while automatic transmissions use a solid shaft.
Drive shaft assemblies are 3-piece units consisting of outer Constant Velocity (CV) joint, connecting shaft and inner tripot joint. Vehicles are equipped with any one of 3 types of axle shaft assemblies. See Fig 2.