Bendix PermaGuard is an exclusive new protective coating for its remanufactured brake shoes, engineered to improve resistance to rust jacking while offering increased brake life and lower total cost of ownership. In creating PermaGuard, Bendix reformulated the coating and wash process, improving its ability to adhere to the metal shoe. The company stands behind its coating with a new, extended, three-year warranty against rust jacking.

Rust jacking – a combination of brake shoe corrosion and lining failure – occurs when rust builds up on the steel beneath the brake lining, exerts upward pressure on the friction material, and eventually causes cracks in the friction material.

Although rust jacking can occur year-round, the combination of wet roads, temperature swings, and chemical de-icers – such as road salt or chemical compounds like magnesium chloride and calcium chloride – makes winter conditions ideal for corrosion to take hold on a brake shoe. For this reason, rust jacking is most prevalent in regions with cold-weather climates.

In addition to tractor wheel-ends, trailer brakes are susceptible to rust jacking as well, particularly on trailers sitting idle for long periods. While idle, trailer brakes can continue to have moisture linger beneath the brake friction material, where it can continue to attack the brake shoe coating. The damaging moisture builds up in the brakes and doesn’t get burned off during brake applications as on a tractor in regular use.

Rust jacking protection is about much more than a quality coating, says Bendix. The company also ‘coins’ 100% of its reman shoes to return them to OE geometry and remove the gap between the shoe and friction, where rust jacking can initiate more easily.

The new Bendix multimedia center at safertrucks.com/knowledge-dock offers blog posts, podcasts, videos, and more on a range of trucking-related topics, including braking systems.