Bendix Heavy Duty brake pads –
Keeping cooler for longer in hardworking vehicles
Bendix Heavy Duty brake pads are proving to be real winners in the hilly areas around Perth.
Designed to work under heavy loads and at high temperatures, Bendix Heavy Duty consistently performs when fitted on load carrying work vehicles, courier vans in stop-start traffic and for towing boats, horse floats, caravans and trailers. Brake fitters in Perth have reported noticeable improvements in wear and performance over all purpose pads depending on driving style, application and conditions.
Mark Wilson from M. Wilson’s Auto Service Centre at Walliston
Mark Wilson, who owns M. Wilson’s Auto Service Centre at Walliston, has been impressed by the performance and wear rate of Bendix Heavy Duty pads.
“We use them because we live in the hills outside Perth. Regular brake pads can wear a bit quickly in certain applications,” he said.
One customer Jeff, a taxi driver and owner has achieved remarkable mileage out of his pads.
“We replaced the first rotors after he had done 350,000 km. We change the brake pads before they are down too low so the surface temperature doesn’t increase too much. If you keep the maintenance up and don’t let the brake pads get down too low, you generally get better mileage out of your discs and your pads,” Mark explained.
He said that he recommended Bendix Heavy Duty pads to customers after assessing the vehicle, its use and the way people drive.
Eddie Worsnop of A Grade Mechanical Services at Roleystone
Eddie Worsnop of A Grade Mechanical Services at Roleystone said the steep hills around Perth make Bendix Heavy Duty pads the first choice even for regular cars.
“I select Heavy Duty for most vehicles as first preference mainly because I’m up in the hills in Perth - and there’s one particular hill that a lot of customers of mine use called Canning Mills Road East.
“They obviously ride the brakes all the way down. It’s a bit of a killer that hill. Brake fade with ordinary pads was never normally an issue but over heating and rapid wear, that sort of stuff was always an issue,” he said.
“You might as well stick something proper on in the beginning – that’s my motto,” he claimed.
The graph shows that under heavy duty conditions where the brakes get hot and stay hot, all purpose pads wear quickly and Bendix Heavy Duty doesn't.
Proven technology
Bendix Applications Engineer, Tim Paton, said the compound used in Heavy Duty pads was originally sourced through the Bendix global network from an OE application in the US.
The pads were then developed for Australian use on the Bendix dynamometer at Ballarat and exhaustively road tested.
“Bendix Heavy Duty is a brake pad designed to run at high temperatures in vehicles carrying loads or making lots of stops in heavy traffic.
“At the same, the challenge was to provide positive high temperature performance without unnecessary rotor wear. “The friction material lasts a long time, up to twice as long as typical brake pads. Heavy Duty pads just go on and on – they just don’t seem to wear out,” he said.
Insulayer
A significant feature of Heavy Duty pads is the insulating layer between the pad and the backing plate.
“The purpose of brakes is to transform kinetic energy into heat. The insulation layer inhibits the transfer of heat to the backing plate to stop heat damaging the caliper,” Tim said.
The Insulayer assists the adhesion of friction material to the backing plate and prevents heat transfer which stops brake fluid from boiling and ensures a positive pedal feel at high operating temperatures.
Titanium Stripe
Another important and cost saving feature to the fitter is that Bendix Heavy Duty pads now also have the Bendix Titanium Stripe which means no bedding-in, less down time and improved customer satisfaction. With the Titanium Stripe you get instant pedal feel from the first stop.
There are currently over 300 references available covering the majority of Passenger and Light Commercial applications.