Meritor Inc announced that its portfolio of Meritor Q Plus S-Cam drum brakes are fully compliant with the US government's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 121 mandate for reduced stopping distance requirements, which took effect August 2, 2011.
The company began work in 2006 to prepare for the shorter stopping distance ruling impacting new tractors. The first phase of this new regulation requires a loaded Class 8 tandem axle tractor to stop in 250 feet from 60 mph (from previous standard of 355 feet). This applies only to three-axle tractors with 59,600-lb GVWR or less.
Chad Mitts, general manager, brakes, Meritor, said, “Our preparation has included over 7.5 million miles of road testing and nearly 500 dynamometer tests to ensure that Meritor optimized drum brakes comply with stopping requirements.”
With a new suite of friction materials, a Meritor Q Plus drum brake package is available to support FMVSS 121 compliance across all affected tractor applications. Meritor has maintained a full portfolio of products through this regulation change that allows customers to choose either drum or disc brakes.
For more information, visit Meritor's reduced-stopping-distance web page on www.meritor.com.