RENEWED interest in air disc brakes is growing among Class 8 truck buyers, according to information from Kenworth Truck Co. Kenworth recently began offering Dana Spicer ESD225 air disc brakes on Kenworth T600 and T800 models.
Jim Bechtold, Kenworth's chief engineer, said fleet interest in heavy-duty air disc brakes is rising because of the improvements made to their design in recent years. “They have better actuators and better performance,” he said. “They've improved significantly compared to the first-generation air disc products that were offered in the North American truck market.”
The long pad life of the Dana Spicer air disc product would allow many fleets to get a payback in maintenance costs, he adds. “A typical truckload fleet should be able to eliminate at least one reline and drum replacement. That translates into a savings of around $700 in maintenance costs over 500,000 miles.”
Truck operators that specify disc brakes now can get valuable experience with them in anticipation of new brake standards that are expected to be implemented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Bechtold said.
“It's expected that the chassis stopping distance could be reduced significantly in the new regulations,” he added. “Disc brakes will probably be one of the compliance alternatives.”
The Dana Spicer air disc brake features a design that reduces maintenance costs while the brake's caliper design provides strong caliper support, minimal slide pin wear, and reduced lining and rotor wear.