1. A vehicle, comprising: an axle assembly, including: an input configured to receive drive torque from a powertrain of the vehicle, a pair of axle shafts, a gearbox that translates the drive torque from the input to the pair of axle shafts, and an axle housing having an axle shaft portion that houses at least a portion of the pair of axle shafts and a gearbox housing portion that houses the gearbox; and a controller configured to: (i) determine an initial temperature of the axle assembly based on an ambient temperature external to the vehicle and a fluid temperature of a transmission of the vehicle, (ii) determine an operating mode of the vehicle, the operating mode of the vehicle being one of moving and non-moving, and (iii) estimate, using an axle temperature model, a temperature of the axle assembly based on the determined initial axle assembly temperature and the vehicle operating mode.