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Source: Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems announcement
ELYRIA, Ohio – Like it or not, winter is coming. You know the drill: falling temperatures, snow, and ice hitting large swaths of North America, presenting challenges for trucks and fleets. Now is the time to prepare.
With harsh weather looming, this special installment of the Bendix Tech Tips Series serves up 12 pieces of advice for wheel-ends, air systems, and electronics to help keep your vehicle in good operating condition.
Wheel-Ends (Tips from Mark Holley, Bendix director of marketing and customer solutions, Wheel-End)
1) Check air brake chamber housings. Look for corrosion – or damage that could allow corrosive materials to take hold – and ensure that dust plugs are properly installed. Prevent corrosion from getting a foothold when these areas are most exposed to hazardous conditions.
2) Lubricate drum-braked wheel-ends. Focus on automatic slack adjusters, clevis pin connections, cam tubes, shafts, and bushings. Lubrication is a standard preventive maintenance procedure that also keeps moisture from building up and enabling corrosion.
3) On wheel-ends with air disc brakes, check the guide pins and inspect the boots for tears or punctures. Openings could permit corrosion of the caliper within. Replace any pins or boots as needed. Verify that the shear adapter cover is in place and fully seated.
4) Ensure free movement of air disc brake pads in the carrier. If necessary, remove them and clean the carrier surface with a wire brush – and make sure that the brake moves freely on its guidance system.
Air Systems (Tips from Richard Nagel, Bendix director of marketing and customer solutions, Air Supply and Drivetrain)
1) Keep it dry. Moisture in the air system can condense and freeze, increasing the odds of brake and valve malfunctions. If the air dryer cartridge hasn’t been replaced lately, now is the time to do it. Bendix recommends oil-coalescing cartridges like the PuraGuard®, since oil aerosols passed into the system can be particularly harmful.
2) Check the dryer’s purge valve for corrosion or grit accumulation and replace it if necessary. Corrosive road chemicals can damage the purge valve, and putting in a new one as a safeguard is a relatively quick and simple bit of preventive maintenance that can save bigger headaches in the future.
3) Manually drain the air tanks. Today’s vehicles use compressed air for more non-braking functions, including automated manual transmissions (AMTs), advanced safety systems, and emissions controls. It’s always advisable to manually drain the air tanks at the start of the cold weather season. Draining every three months is generally sufficient for typical line haul trucks, but more often – monthly or even weekly – is recommended for vehicles with high air demand, like vocational trucks.
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4) Avoid using de-icing solutions on an air system – unless it’s an emergency. They can corrode O-rings and valve seals. (If one must be used, limit the exposure to as small an area as possible and keep an eye on the affected parts.)
To view the entire collection of these tech tips, click HERE.
