Misdiagnosis and manual adjustment still a problem with auto slack adjusters

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Updated May 31, 2023
Bendix technician measures brake stroke in a wheel end
“If a wheel-end equipped with an automatic slack adjuster is out of adjustment, Bendix’s first – and most important – piece of advice is this: Do not manually adjust the adjuster. Instead, investigate why the brake is over the stroke limit,” says Keith McComsey, Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake director of marketing and customer solutions – wheel-end.
Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake

[This article was originally published in 2020 by Trucks, Parts, Service. It has been updated to include more timely information.]

They’re called automatic slack adjusters for a reason, and the manufacturers that make them want to keep it that way.

Still, despite years of warnings, automatic slack adjusters (ASA) continue to be manually adjusted by technicians who may not know any better or who may be eager to get a truck out of the shop and back out on the road.

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