Brakes,Wheel end,Corrosion
Sealed chambers: your route to longer spring brake service life.
Fleets that find themselves replacing spring brakes more often than expected ask us: Is there a way to get longer life?
The answer is yes.
The #1 reason for spring brake failure? A broken power spring – which is most often triggered by corrosion. The source is no mystery – it’s caused by moisture and contaminants, such as road salts, that invade the brake chamber and weaken the power spring. Stop these elements from entering, and you can help prevent the corrosion that continues the expensive cycle of spring brake replacement.
Consider the design of the standard spring brake. The units are built with drain holes, which allow air to escape when the park brakes are released. Unfortunately, the drain holes can let moisture and contaminants pass through. The industry’s solution: sealed spring brakes, engineered to prevent damaging elements from entering.
There are a few different designs for sealed spring brakes, but all share the ultimate goal of barring the entry of corrosive contaminants. The Bendix® EnduraSure®-Pro, for example, eliminates the drain holes and integrates a one-way check valve into the screw-in dust plug. The check valve allows the spring brake to “breathe” while preventing contaminants from entering.
Built for harsh environments
Sealed spring brakes are a great choice for any fleet because of the long-lasting value they deliver, but they are an especially great choice for those operating in severe or off-road applications like bulk hauling. With a ‘standard’ chamber, aggregate can enter through the drain holes. Over time, this degrades the power spring and can increase the risk of an eventual failure. The same principle—contaminants entering through the drain holes—applies to fleets operating in harsh environmental conditions where road salts and chemicals take their toll.
Finally, if you keep your equipment for an extended period of time it makes good business sense to spec a chamber that helps lengthen service intervals. You stand to benefit the most from sealed spring brakes – reaping the long-term advantages of units that seal the park side and protect the power spring.
So called ‘low cost’ spring brakes
Like any other component on a vehicle, spring brakes are wearable items that must be replaced regularly. What some fleets may not realize is that they should be seeing longer service life. They may think their service life of X months is standard—but a higher quality spring brake may deliver additional service life and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). So those ‘low-cost’ alternatives are not the best option, as using them sacrifices the long-term benefits of performance, durability, and return on investment – shortening the maintenance cycle and increasing cost.
Premium does not mean sealed
Once you’ve determined that sealed spring brakes will benefit your operation, beware of products that are marketed as “premium” but aren’t sealed. They won’t measure up to a true sealed spring brake. And they won’t meet your requirement for a long-life spring brake that maximizes total cost of ownership. It only makes sense: the best spring coating in the world won’t fight corrosion as well as one that prevents a corrosive environment from developing in the first place.
Yes, there is a better way than regularly replacing spring brakes. Think about sealed models and consider the Bendix EnduraSure-Pro. Fleets choosing the Bendix EnduraSure-Pro will enjoy extended warranty protection of six (6) years.
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