A new development by a start-up named Ca.Tec promises significant improvement in both pad and rotor wear, simply by stabilising the brake unit mounting. The innovative system is now being trialled by renowned fleets across the country.
It is generally accepted that disc brakes perform very well as a braking system on any vehicle. However, the take-up in Australia’s trailer industry has been relatively low – normally they are only fitted on every fifth new trailer leaving the workshop. Why? Because most companies still dread the high cost of maintenance, with pads and rotors not lasting as long as expected.
As a result, both OEM and after market industry have been working hard to improve the longevity of the product. But, it is the pragmatic and relatively simple solution devised by a workshop manager and a small-town engineer that is currently causing a stir in the industry.
Peter Pace, who previously managed a workshop for Toll’s Liquid Division, was talking to Martin James about uneven pad wear. Looking at the problem from an outside perspective, Martin reckoned that the movement of the entire caliper unit was causing uneven pad wear; and that movement in the caliper mounting meant pads were rubbing against the rotor causing excessive heat build-up and cracking.
Martin’s solution was a simple one – a third point of contact for the caliper mounting that could hold the caliper unit in place very precisely, allowing no droop of the entire unit. The theory was that this would hold the pads at an even distance from the rotors until the brakes were applied.
A prototype unit was built and fitted to a Toll B-double set that had been giving Peter problems. The improvement was immediate and Martin realised the Caliper Support System he had developed had a genuine market potential – Ca.Tec was born.
“We have been running a significant number of trials and they are all coming back with the same result,” says Martin, now Chief Technical Officer at Ca.Tec. “We have 12 trials running at the moment and we have recently opened up brake systems on trailers and there has been a significant heat reduction on the braking operation. We can tell that because the high heat blue stain on the rotors is machining out.
“We are getting really interesting comparisons as far as pad wear and rotor wear go. It looks like on line haul they may go two million kilometres or even more. Our problem is we have to run trials from a brand-new trailer through to destruction to really get the full level of data. However, we can safely say that this device has brought disc brakes back to being a viable economic alternative.”
He adds, “It is surprising how often we speak to a company and ask them if they have disc brakes and whether they are having problems. As soon as you do they will start talking about the problems they have. Then we go into workshops with some very unhappy people and say we are supplying them with this equipment for free.”
A couple of years down the track from the initial meeting sees Martin James working together with a CEO, Jon Dennis, to further develop the potential of the invention, forming Ca. Tec, running a number of trials in fleets around Australia and talking to equipment manufacturers both here in Australia and in the US.
“If the positive nature of the initial results from fleets around Australia continues there is a real possibility the trucking industry will be able to embrace the effectiveness and safety of disc braking on trailers without blowing out equipment maintenance costs,” says Martin. “The current trials are the acid test.”
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