Dana Holding Corp. will introduce a system that allows axles to be adapted to either wide-base single tires or traditional duals, the company said March 23 in Louisville, Ky.
The Spicer SelecTTrac housing option will become available on the new Pro-40 tandem axle. The housing design allows fleets to use wide-based tires without concerns about bearing life when converting between wide-base single tires with low off-set wheels and standard dual wheels.
“Wide-base single tires are becoming increasingly popular as the industry looks for ways to improve efficiency,” said Mark Wallace, president of Dana On-Highway Driveline Technologies. “With Spicer SelecTTrac, customers can benefit from the weight and fuel savings of wide-based single tires, and still maximize their axle system weight rating and wheel-end life.”
The company said the tandem axle already offers nearly a 100-pound weight reduction over competitive products. It also features improved power density, which enables customers to increase payload and improve fuel economy.
The company also announced it has developed a new calculator. “It is important for our customers to understand the value associated with specifying Dana products,” said George Constand, Dana’s chief technical and quality officer. “After extensive hours of competitive benchmarking and testing, we are now able to confidently estimate the significant savings and increased efficiency that Dana technologies offer the marketplace.”
The company said advantages include: reduced weight for added freight-hauling capacity; greater fuel economy; serviceability improvements and reduced maintenance costs; improved vehicle efficiency; and a reduced carbon footprint.
Dana’s Spicer Diamond Series driveshaft was on display at a trucking show here. The company described the driveshaft as, “an industry-first, one-piece aluminum driveshaft utilizing Dana’s patented magnetic-pulse welding process to significantly reduce weight while maintaining the strength of an all-steel system.”
