A typical crankshaft is made up of a series of main journals that support the crank in the block and a series of rod journals offset from the crank centerline that are affixed to the connecting rods ...

There are numerous crankshaft configurations that are determined mainly by the design of the engine. For example, there are inline-four, V4, inline-six, 60-degree and 90-degree V6, inline-eight, V8, ...