Meritor WABCO, a leader in integrated safety systems and efficiency technology for the North American commercial vehicle industry, announced that its Electronically Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS) is available for both OEM installation and aftermarket retro-fit.
ECAS addresses two key customer groups. For those fleets that are already using 6X2 vehicle configurations for weight and fuel savings, ECAS provides "intelligent load transfer" to help improve traction and reduce tire wear, offering advantages over many current mechanical and simple electronic systems available today. For those fleets that are not yet using, but are
considering 6X2 configurations, ECAS provides the assurance that the fleet will have optimal traction and ride performance to support conversion to 6X2. This enables fleets to now take advantage of the important fuel and weight savings that a 6X2 configuration delivers.
"The positive feedback from fleet and OEM customers on Meritor WABCO ECAS also prompted us to create a retrofit package, enabling existing 6x2 vehicles to benefit from the immediate improvements ECAS offers," said Pat Kealy, director, aftermarket, Meritor WABCO. "This product could greatly accelerate the adoption of 6x2 tractors in North America, giving OEMs and fleets
an achievable benefit in fuel savings."
Meritor WABCO ECAS addresses long-standing fleet concerns regarding 6x2 tractor applications by providing enhanced traction capability, improved drive axle tire wear, reduced parasitic loss, and further weight savings. It also potentially increases vehicle re-sale value.
Key features and benefits of the new Meritor WABCO ECAS include:
- Accurate, electronic maintenance and control of ride height between axles and chassis
- Reduced air consumption for better fuel economy through decreased compressor duty cycle with air spring pressure adjustment only occurring when there is a change in load
- Quick and automatic load transfer from tag to drive axle to reduce drive axle wheel spin during low traction events
- A faster coupling/uncoupling process with ECAS due to faster inflating/deflating of air bellows when compared to mechanical leveling valves
- Speed-activated driveline protection realized by an automatic increase in driving level
- Manual lift axle control to reduce roll resistance when the vehicle is unladen
More than 3 million WABCO ECAS systems have been sold worldwide and Meritor WABCO has adopted the product to meet the growing interest in North America for the tractor, motor coach and bus markets.
