Taking a drive shaft system with a tripod joint and a ball joint as a research object，the axial force generated by the tripod joint is measured. The influence of the shaft rotating speed，the articulation angle，the input torque and the friction coefficient on the generated axial force（GAF）is investigated. Based on Hertz contact theory and the velocity-based friction model，a multi-body dynamic model for calculating the GAF of a drive shaft system is established. To enhance the calculation accuracy of the model，the contact shape between the roller and the track inside the tripod joint is regarded as arbitrary，and the contact parameters and friction coefficient are regarded as variables that change with the operating conditions. Based on the finite element method，a method for calculating contact stiffness and force exponent between rollers and tracks is presented，and the friction coefficient and force exponent under various operating conditions are further identified by using the measured data. Based on the identified friction and contact parameters，a multi-body dynamic model of another drive shaft system is established，and the GAF is calculated and compared with the experiments. It is concluded that the calculated GAF and the measured GAF agrees well，which indicates the calculation accuracy of the GAF calculation model is high.