Drive axle assembly with lubricant cooling system

A drive axle assembly having a gear housing and a hollow member attached to the gear housing that is kept at relatively low temperature by ambient air flowing over outer surfaces of the member caused by motion of a vehicle in which the drive axle assembly is installed, a lubricant reservoir in the gear housing, a rotatable member forming part of a gear assembly rotatably mounted in the gear housing, the rotatable member being at least partially disposed in lubricant in the lubricant reservoir and a lubricant cooling system, the lubricant cooling system comprising:

• a lubricant passage in fluid communication with the lubricant reservoir via an inlet that is exposed to lubricant in the lubricant reservoir,
• the inlet being disposed with respect to the rotatable member so that lubricant flows into the lubricant passage when the rotatable member rotates,
• the lubricant passage having an outlet adjacent an inner end of the hollow member and communicating directly with the hollow inner end of the member for delivering lubricant from the lubricant passage to the hollow member,
• the hollow member communicating with an outlet passage that is in fluid communication with the reservoir for returning lubricant from the hollow member to the reservoir, and
• the outlet of the lubricant passage and the outlet passage being sized so that there is a flood of lubricant in the hollow member that engages an inner surface of the hollow member without any need for an internal or external duct when the rotatable member rotates at a predetermined minimum speed.