🔗 Driveshaft 4×4 Pusher: step-by-step build

Turn one wheel and ALL FOUR wheels turn — a spinning driveshaft joins the axles!

Real 4×4 cars and trucks send power to all four wheels, so they can climb hills and drive through mud. In this car a long spinning rod — the driveshaft — runs from the back axle to the front axle. Corner gears at each end bend the turning round a right angle. Lift the car and turn just one wheel: all four wheels spin together!

  • Level 2 of 5 (easy)
  • About 20 minutes
  • 15 steps, 50 parts
  • Powered by: Push
  • Series: Gearbox & Drivetrain Cars

What you will learn

Build these first

  • 🌬️ Bevel-Gear Windmill: Turn the handwheel at the bottom — the sails spin at the top! (level 3 of 5, about 25 minutes, 16 steps)
  • 🛒 Push Buggy: A sturdy buggy with a push bar held up by super-strong triangles. (level 2 of 5, about 15 minutes, 12 steps)

Parts you need

  • 2 × Beam 11
  • 10 × Black pin (grippy)
  • 4 × L-beam 2×4
  • 2 × Double cross block
  • 4 × Axle 5
  • 4 × Cross block
  • 12 × Half bush
  • 1 × Axle 7
  • 4 × Corner gear (12 teeth)
  • 2 × Axle 8
  • 4 × Yellow-hub wheel
  • 1 × Open frame 5×7

Steps

  1. Stand an 11-hole beam on its edge — the left side.
  2. Push black pins into holes 4, 5, 7 and 8 of the beam, on the inside.
  3. Snap two small L-beams onto the pins, long legs up, feet pointing at each other.
  4. Back post: stand a double cross block on the outside of the post, over the beam. Push two 5-long axles through it and the post's 2nd and 4th holes — with a cross block hanging upside down on the lower one, between the posts.
  5. Front post: stand a double cross block on the outside of the post, over the beam. Push two 5-long axles through it and the post's 2nd and 4th holes — with a cross block hanging upside down on the lower one, between the posts.
  6. Slide the 7-long driveshaft through both cross blocks, with a yellow half bush outside each block.
  7. Slide a cross block onto the end of each top axle, between the posts. Turn each block so its free hole points up and out to the end — the roof holders.
  8. Now build the other side on the table: push black pins into holes 4 and 5 of a second 11-hole beam and snap an L-beam post onto them.
  9. Two more pins in holes 7 and 8, and the last post, foot pointing at the first one.
  10. Slide the side onto the car: its posts go over the ends of the four short axles. Lock it with a yellow half bush on each axle end.
  11. Back axle: put a tan corner gear on the back end of the driveshaft, right up against the half bush. Hold a second corner gear against it, on the LEFT, with a half bush between it and the beam, and push an 8-long axle through the 10th holes, the bush and the gear.
  12. Front axle: the same at the front end of the driveshaft, but on the RIGHT — through the 2nd holes.
  13. Add a half bush to every axle end.
  14. Push on the four wheels.
  15. Push a black pin up into each free cross-block hole, then lay a 5×7 frame flat on top so its end holes click onto the pins — the roof.

Play time

Push the 4×4 on carpet and on a slippery table. Then hold one wheel still — can the others still turn? (No! They are all locked together.)

Real-world inspiration

Part-time 4WD transfer shaft (Jeep) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-wheel_drive ; Sariel gears tutorial (bevel gears) — https://sariel.pl/2009/09/gears-tutorial/

Build next

  • 🐾 Twin-Spring 4×4: Two spring engines — one for the front wheels, one for the back. All four wheels push! (level 3 of 5, about 35 minutes, 16 steps)