26th
June 2009 - All Major Truck
OEMs Now Offer Bendix Air Disc Brakes as an Option
Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC
announced that Bendix® ADB22X™ air disc brakes are now available as
options on select platforms at all six of the major truck OEMs for the
first time, including Peterbilt, Kenworth, Daimler Trucks North America
(DTNA), Mack, Volvo, and International.
The Bendix ADB22X air disc brake – which has also been
released as an option at Utility Trailer and Hendrickson Trailer
Suspension Systems – is a lightweight air disc brake package that
reduces total wheel-end weight over competitive air disc brake packages,
offers longer brake life, and provides fast and easy pad replacement,
improving uptime. Easy access to the air disc brake pads allows for
minimized maintenance labor and expense, allowing drivers and fleets to
reduce downtime.
As interest increases in North America, Bendix air disc
brakes have experienced a 30 percent year-over-year growth in units sold
in each of the past three years. An estimated 150,000 Bendix air disc
brakes are now in use on North American highways.
"We are pleased that all major U.S. truck builders are
making Bendix air disc brakes available for their customers," said Aaron
Schwass, director for the foundation brake group at Bendix Spicer
Foundation Brake. "Fleet customers have come to request our air disc
brakes because of the passenger car-like feel, and we can now say that
our disc brake is readily available on tractors, trucks and trailers."
Bendix ADB22X air disc brakes have a variety of
applications including refuse, construction, heavy haul, coach, and line
haul. Additional applications outside of traditional tractor trailer usage includes motor homes, fire and
rescue service, mining, as well as the first Bendix air disc brake
installation on DTNA’s Thomas Built school bus.
Schwass attributes the substantial growth in air disc
brake sales to greater awareness of the product’s features and benefits,
including outstanding performance and durability. According to Schwass,
when traveling at 60 mph, air disc brakes by Bendix Spicer Foundation
Brake LLC will stop up to 39 percent shorter than the current FMVSS 121
requirement for heavy trucks. This improvement exceeds even the greatest
proposed reduction in stopping distance expected to be announced in
2009.
Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake was among the first to
manufacture new-generation air disc brakes in North America beginning in
2005 at its manufacturing facility now located in Bowling Green, KY.
Incorporating the robust design developed for the European market by
parent company Knorr-Bremse, Bendix air disc brakes are proven to
significantly reduce stopping distances for commercial vehicles;
virtually eliminate brake fade with no degradation of stopping power;
enable a passenger car-like feel; and permit straight, stable stops due
to high brake efficiency and low hysteresis. Extensive ongoing field
testing has validated the air disc brakes’ superior performance
advantages relative to stopping distance, pad and rotor life, and brake
fade.
Bendix brand air disc brakes are compatible in a variety
of combinations with North American tractor and trailer air drum
foundation brakes.
Bendix foundation drum brakes, disc brakes, automatic
slack adjusters, and combination spring brakes are produced and made
available by Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC under the Bendix®
brand name. Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC is a joint venture
between Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Dana Commercial
Vehicle Products, LLC.
About Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC
Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC combines and expands the
complementary wheel-end foundation brake technologies of two global
leaders – Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Dana Commercial
Vehicle Products, LLC. The joint venture, formed in July 2004, is a
single, complete source for OEM brake system design, manufacturing,
hardware, and support for all foundation brake components and actuation
systems, as well as all-makes coverage of nearly 50,000 medium- and
heavy-duty aftermarket parts. Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC is
headquartered in Elyria, Ohio, with engineering operations in both
Elyria and Kalamazoo, Mich., and a manufacturing facility in Bowling
Green, Ky. For more information, call 1-866-610-9709 or visit
www.foundationbrakes.com.
Source:
Bendix Spicer Press Release