Meritor Inc. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, announced the immediate availability of Reduced Stopping Distance friction materials at the company’s parts distribution centers in Florence, Ky., and Brampton, Ontario, to support North American truck operators who want to standardize their RSD brake friction materials. The announcement was made at the 2012 Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week.
Meritor also announced it will begin the immediate production of PlatinumShield II, a second-generation brake shoe coating that features an advanced formula uniquely suited to the needs of the Aftermarket customer to prevent rust-jacking. The company also announced that its “Real Deal” suite of services has received considerable acceptance by warehouse distributor authorized parts outlets. Meritor also announced the six winners of the “Winning Drive Championship” promotion for its Aftermarket business; the winners will attend the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Feb. 5.
With a complete suite of friction materials, the Meritor Q Plus drum brake package is available to support FMVSS 121 compliance for new trucks. Meritor brake engineers addressed balancing the torque load between tractor and trailer brakes, as well as maintaining a focus on everyday driving characteristics and the more stringent emergency stop performance requirements.
To meet the new government regulations applicable to new trucks that went into effect last August, Meritor designed more powerful front brakes and highly effective rear-axle brakes with new enhanced friction materials, according to Joe Kay, chief engineer, Brakes, Meritor.
“To comply with the new stopping distance regulations, our customers specified the ‘new’ brakes on new tractors, but many fleets told us they preferred to outfit their current vehicles with the same friction materials for ease of inventory and vehicle maintenance,” said Tim Bauer, director, Undercarriage Products, Meritor Aftermarket. Bauer added that fleet managers wanted to use RSD friction materials on remanufactured brake shoes at normal service intervals.
Meritor says that since PlatinumShield’s introduction at HDAW in February 2009, the company has shipped more than 15 million remanufactured shoes to authorized parts outlets. “At the product’s introduction three years ago, we began developing a second-generation of platinum coating, fully mindful of the harsh liquid chemicals used in winter road solvents to melt snow and ice,” said Bauer. “Our PlatinumShield II is a new formula designed for today’s demanding climate.”
The second-generation coating is distinguished by its lighter platinum gray color. It will be used on new aftermarket brake shoes with new RSD friction materials. PlatinumShield II also will be used on remanufactured brake shoes. The PlatinumShield coating was developed by Meritor’s brake engineering team to resist micro-abrasion caused by the movement of the brake lining against the shoe table during normal use. Rust-jacking occurs when rust forms on bare shoe metal under the lining, causing it to lift and crack.
