CVSA OOS criteria for air discs still in the making
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) roadside inspectors aren’t yet quite sure what to do with air disc brakes.
Impending stop distance regulations in the U.S. and improved technology are making them more popular in North America (see the current online Feature of the Week, “Making a Comeback”, for more on that), but unlike an S-cam brake, you can’t measure brake stroke externally.
The pads are hidden within the caliper and can’t be measured, and only one side of the rotor is easily inspected. The actuator is integrated into the caliper, and can’t be inspected visually, either, says Ron Plantan, principle engineer for Bendix’s wheel-end group.
Randy Petresh, director of engineering, Haldex Brake Products Corp., says the three air disc manufacturers have been working with CVSA to develop a roadside inspection procedure, “something less comprehensive than we recommend for standard maintenance inspections, but no less telling as to the serviceability of the brake.”
A draft of the recommendations were supposed to be presented to the CVSA Vehicle Committee for review at meeting in Denver this month.
If it’s accepted, we could have an CVSA inspection procedure as early as the fall of 2008 — and tape measures will become redundant.
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