New Mack suspension delivers 25 percent tire life improvement

user-gravatar Headshot
Updated Sep 16, 2013

mack1

Mack’s on-highway products manager Jerry Warmkessel calls the company’s new Twin Y suspension “revolutionary” and it’s hard to argue with him.

Mack is showcasing the new air ride suspension along with its new mRide spring suspension at the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Ky., today.

Warmkessel notes that the new Twin Y suspension is up to 403 pounds lighter than other, convention, suspensions offering Mack customers significant weight savings. Among its features are a simple-yet-strong maintenance free design which Warmkessel said was engineered to provide a comfortable, easier-handling ride.

This jibes with my own experience: I drove a fully-loaded, Y Suspension-equipped Pinnacle tractor-trailer last week at the TMC show in Nashville and found it to very stable laterally as well as countering braking and acceleration loads.

The design of the Mack Twin Y air suspension includes two stamped high-strength steel Y-shaped blades per wheel end. According to Warmkessel, this design clamps the axle with both upper and lower axle seats to greatly reduce suspension windup and significantly improve tire traction and braking control, as well as increase tire life by up to 25 percent. The axle seats are clamped to the axle housing by Huck U-bolts on both sides and never need to be re-torqued.

Warmkessel says Mack customers have field-tested the new suspensions logging more than 3 million miles in the process. Most importantly, he notes, these real-world tests showed a 25 percent improvement in tire life on Twin Y-equipped trucks.

The new suspension is being offered on Pinnacle Axle Back and Axle Forward models, the Mack Twin Y features MACK S38 and S40 series axles with C125/126, C150/151 and 200 Series carriers.

In other product news, Mack also highlighted details of its mRide spring suspension, now offered with Mack axles. Mack vocational product manager Curtis Dorwart noted that mRide is ideal for vocational customers demanding a durable, stable ride with greater articulation.

Dorwart says the use of spring leafs over four separate rubber block packs on the mRide provides stability and articulation, while also allowing the needed clearance for larger tires and brake components required in construction and vocational applications.

“In addition to being lighter than other spring suspensions, the mRide delivers a smoother ride, improved stability and greater ground clearance over difficult terrain, Dorwart says. “The Mack mRide provides constant ground contact for all wheels over its articulation range, which in turn maximizes traction on any jobsite.”

Additionally, Dorwart notes, the parallel pinion angles of the Mack axles extend the driveline joint life. Coupled with the greaseless mRide suspension, the offering boasts easier maintenance and is easier to align, contributing to reduced customer maintenance costs.

Paired with the Mack C150/151 series axle carriers, the Mack mRide is available on the Mack Granite, Titan, Pinnacle Axle Forward and the TerraPro model trucks.