The brake system in any motor vehicle is important. Without it, using the vehicle can be extremely dangerous. This system maintains the traction during emergency situations, stops the lorry and balances the vehicle during turns. Imagine a truck with missing brake components, the disaster would be huge, and lives might be at stake. That is why being familiar with each of the brake components and understanding their functions is an important task for motorists, especially when looking for replacement from a manufacturer like brake components from Caliper Engineering.
It is easy to familiarise yourself with the basic components of a brake system. They include a pedal, hard and soft brake lines, brake calipers, brake rotors, brake pads, and the master cylinder. These are all typical brake components found in a motor vehicle. However, for trucks, there are some components that are different. Unlike smaller motor vehicles, the force needed to stop trucks, trains and other large vehicles is great. This is why the truck is usually equipped with an air brake system. The air brake components include air compressors, air reservoir tanks, foot valves, drain valves, push rod, brake chamber, brake S-cam, slack adjuster, brake shoe and return spring.
How It Works
The components of the air brake system actually have three different types of braking mechanism. Generally, though, this system works just like the piston brakes found on smaller vehicles. Where the compressor powered by the engine fills the air storage tanks with compressed air when the brake pedal is stepped on by the driver, the compressed air will push the piston to the cylinder. This will then push the rods which will turn the slack adjuster. The adjuster is connected to the push rod, which connects to another rod that will rotate. The S-cam is connected to this rod. When the S-cam is pushed, it will work to push the brake shoe against the drum brake. Another series of movement and the brake will be released because of the pressure in the brake cylinder. This is how the brake components work together to ensure that the truck will stop when signalled. Aside from this, the truck also has an emergency air brake system.
This short summary introduces the mechanism of how the air brake system for trucks works as well as the basic brake components found on said system. For truck drivers, in depth research regarding this subject matter is advised.