Axle Assembly Having An Angular Contact Bearing That Supports A Ring Gear For Rotation On An Axle Housing

An axle assembly comprising:

• an axle housing;
• an input pinion received in the axle housing and rotatable about a first axis, the input pinion having a plurality of pinion teeth;
• a ring gear received in the axle housing, the ring gear being a bevel gear having a plurality of ring gear teeth that are meshingly engaged with the pinion teeth, the ring gear teeth defining a pitch angle;
• a four-point angular contact bearing supporting the ring gear for rotation on the axle housing about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis, the four-point angular contact bearing having a first race, which is coupled to the ring gear for rotation therewith, a second race, and a plurality of bearing balls that are disposed between the first and second races, the second race being defined by a first race member and a second race member, wherein the first race member, the bearing balls and the first race cooperate to define a first contact angle, wherein the second race member, the bearing balls and the first race cooperate to define a second contact angle and the first race to define a second contact angle, and wherein the first contact angle is within ±15 degrees of being perpendicular to the pitch angle of the ring gear teeth;
• and
• a differential assembly having a differential case, the differential case being mounted to the ring gear for rotation therewith.