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Jun 15, 2023

Axle and suspension maintenance made easy

Date: 04.05.2023 Tru-Shu offers longer service intervals with its heavy duty

Date: 04.05.2023

Tru-Shu offers longer service intervals with its heavy duty trailer products

Tru-Shu has been developing a long service interval, maintenance friendly axle and suspension for heavy duty trailers. The Tru-Shu axle was developed after comparing common trailer axles with American drive axles. The failure rate and service interval was much higher across all brands of trailer axle than that of the American drive.

From this observation Tru-Shu has designed trailer axles made with the best parts of American drive technology and a few new ideas to reduce failure, increase service life and streamline maintenance.

Tru-Shu's premium axles will be on display at the Brisbane Truck Show, including the 22.5 and 19.5 axles, both of which have American drive bearings and ten-stud wheel pattern. Competitors’ 19.5 axles have smaller bearings that are prone to failure and 8 stud patterns that overload the studs if they are not under correct tension resulting in damage and loss of wheels. Tru-Shu's hub has larger bearings than the competition and 10 studs with a locating ring the whole way around the hub for maximum wheel location and operation tolerance.

Running Tru-Shu in combination with American trucks will simplify parts inventory as its axle runs the same bearings, seals, slack adjusters, and s-cam hardware.

All Tru-Shu axles have American drive bearings as they were found to be more reliable than conventional trailer bearings, have a long service interval and are easily available.

All Tru-Shu's axles are recommended to be oil lubricated for long bearing life and have an oil fill plug in the hub. Oil filled hubs are susceptible to oil leaks, to prevent this our axle has been designed with two oil seals per wheel end. To monitor the oil level the hub cap has a well-protected oil sight glass for visual inspection of oil level.

The wheel end is held on with Tru-Shu's own 30mm wide nut that is locked to the axle with two grub screws that remove any play between the nut and axle. This new type of locking nut utilises more thread than other axle nut systems and will prevent wear of the axle and potential loss of wheel ends.

All Tru-Shu axles have our patented brake shoes with alignment tag for maximum life and braking performance. For heavy duty operations Tru-Shu brakes can be run with two return springs to remove vibrations from the wheel end. All Tru-Shu brake components can be fitted without removal of the hub.

Fitting of the shoes can be done with a simple loop of wire or cable through a hole drilled in the shoe and lining to tension the brake return spring while fitting the retaining bolt. The S-cam tube is double bushed and sealed each end. The S-cam is bolted in place with caps over a rubber bush, this means the S-cam can be fitted without a welder.

All Tru-Shu brakes have a guide tag that runs down the face of the S-cam to prevent the shoes from operating out of alignment giving long service life and optimal braking performance.

Tru-Shu suspension boasts two sets of side-by-side parabolic springs per axle, providing increased stability. All springs and saddles are u-bolted to the axle and require no welding or fabrication to fit or replace. Tru-Shu suspension incorporates two large-footprint airbags to reduce bag pressure and give a soft ride. Air bags mount directly over the springs and do not sit on a plate overhanging one side of the spring. Unlike other suspension on the market the bolt-on shock absorber brackets are easy to change if damaged or worn.

The Tru-Shu axle suits all types of transport operations and will hold particular appeal to those who operate in demanding conditions. The products are aimed at stock, refrigerated and low loader operators.

Tru-Shu will give long service intervals with large bearings and brakes that are running in line, stability with four springs and bushes spread out across the axle, and a smooth ride with large airbags operating with low pressure.

When the time comes to maintain a Tru-Shu axle the hard work has been done for you with maintenance considered in the design. Every brake component can be replaced without removal of the hub, and no special tools or equipment are required to change the spring bushes.

For more information see the Tru-Shu team on Stand 200 at the Brisbane Truck Show.

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