A drive axle is essentially a half axle, so named because it does half of the job, extending from a transaxle or differential to one of the wheels. Its twin on the other side completes the set.

As long as there have been trucks, the dominant drive axle system has been the Hotchkiss design, best known as the solid or straight axle. From the late-'40s through the mid-'80s, straight-axle ...