Compelling colloborations

In the lead-up to the 2018 IAA Commercial Vehicles Show, SAF-Holland CEO, Detlef Borghardt elaborated on the state of innovation from a global perspective with particular interest in the North American market. He noted that disc brakes are trending upwards based on statistics for registered vehicles, and that SAF-Holland is participating above average in a “currently growing market there as well”.

Following these market trends, Swedish braking technology company and fellow collaborator, Haldex, claims that it was not until the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards rules were changed, decreasing the stopping distances required for Class 8 trucks (2011 and 2013) that North American fleets of all types took a real interest in disc brakes.

“While many could certainly meet the new rules staying with drum brakes, forward thinking and safety-minded fleets saw an opportunity and started investigating the potential for their fleets,” Haldex said. “Many of those fleets who preferred to stay with drum brake technology did see the need to boost their performance with wider brake shoes and more aggressive lining material, in addition to the OEM specified larger diameter steer axle drum brakes. The added cost for these enhancements had the effect of reducing the gap between air disc brake and drum brake further. Additionally, the unforeseen noise, performance and durability issues that were induced by these more aggressive drum brake linings are only now surfacing.”

In light of these industry developments, SAF-Holland is replacing its SBS 2220 H0 22.5” disc brake with the SBS 2220 H01. The new trailer disc brake, which was developed in close collaboration with Haldex, will begin serial production at the end of Q4 2018.

According to SAF-Holland, the new disc brake has many advantages over the SBS 2220 H0, including topology optimisied cast parts, a weight reduction of approximately 5kg per axle, optimised brake pad retaining bracket, no change in the brake pads and no losses in terms of braking power or service life.
SAF-Holland has confirmed that it is also introducing another trailer disc brake replacement, following its colloborative efforts with German OEM, Knorr-Bremse.
The Knorr SN6 19.5” disc brake will be replaced by the Knorr ST6 which also features topology optimised cast parts as well as a weight reduction of about 6kg per axl and a sealed floating bearing (as per ST7).

Borghardt says that SAF-Holland supports fleets, drivers and fleet managers by developing products and services that make their work easier and more economically viable.

Fast Fact
SAF-Holland has worked alongside Swedish braking technilogy company, Haldex, confirming that air disc brakes generally offer trucking fleets more uptime, better working conditions for vehicle operators (shorter stopping distances, better pedal feel and ergonomics and improved road transport equipment responsiveness.

Fast Fact
According to the CEO of SAF-Holland, Detlef Borghardt, the equipment specialist is working towards predictive maintenance by developing intelligent products, particularly wear sensing systems that can check brake pads and can signal when they require changing. “Digitalisation, automation and electrification are all trends that the market is setting for SAF-Holland,” he says.

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