Everyone in the trucking industry recognizes the fact that brakes need to be maintained regularly. But how do you determine what the proper maintenance interval should be and what should be included in the inspection?
Truck Parts & Service spoke with several brake component manufacturers to get their expert advice on setting up brake maintenance schedules that help to ensure your customers’ trucks stop safely.
A good place to begin is with the guidelines set by the truck OEMs and the brake system component suppliers. These can be either mileage or time based.
Since these are suggested guidelines for typical applications, you must examine your customer’s specific application and adjust the interval as needed.
Joe Kay, engineering manager, foundation brake, ArvinMeritor, Inc., suggested looking at the environment in which the vehicle operates. For example, if the vehicle runs in an area with a lot of moisture-either rain or humidity-braking can be affected.
“Moisture will begin to work its way into the internal components of the braking system and once it does, corrosion can start,” he explained.
Duty cycle is another factor to consider. “The number of times the driver actually has to brake will have an effect on component wear and fatigue,” he added.
