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Oct 1, 2003 12:00 PM

It could be said that the newest Watson & Chalin steerable lift axle was created especially for the new Super Tankers operating at 80,000 lb GVW on seven axles. Certainly, the light weight of this 8,000-lb lift axle is critical to achieving the 25½-ton payloads that operators are getting in the eight states where they are legal.

Richard Rickman, director of sales at Watson & Chalin, says the Tru-Track Super Lite is the lightest steerable lift axle on the market. Total weight including tires and wheels is only 895 lb. That is 374 lb lighter than Watson's lightweight 13,200-lb-capacity unit. For the three lift axles of a seven-axle Super Tanker, that is a weight saving of 1,122 lb.

Contributing to the light weight are 17.5" wheels and tires, a first for Watson Tru-Track fabricated suspensions. Also, it was made possible by a new imported 325 mm × 100 mm (13" × 4") brake from ArvinMeritor. The previous smallest available brakes were 15" × 4". The 895-lb weight of the Tru-Track Super Lite is figured with steel hubs and drums. The parallelogram suspension has 13.5" of travel and 11" of lift. Watson & Chalin Manufacturing Inc, 2060 Couch Drive, McKinney TX 75069.