Meritor, Inc. has made enhancements to the 14X HE linehaul tandem drive axle and added two more drive axles to its high-efficiency family of products.
“We’ve made the 14X HE axle even more efficient than it was when we launched it less than two years ago,” said James Taylor, vice president of rear drivetrain, NAFTA. “We’re also adding two new axle products, reinforcing our commitment to enhancing the portfolio with technologies focused on efficiency.”
The 14X HE axle, as well as the new RT160 HE axle for heavy-haul and vocational applications and the 17X HE axle for heavy-duty applications, are built with high-efficiency bearings, specialized gearing, fast ratios for downspeeding and the Meritor Lube Management System, the company says. Meritor enhanced the 14X HE tandem axle by adding a second Meritor Lube Management System to the carrier of the forward axle. When the axle launched in 2017, only the carrier of the rear axle was equipped with the system.
The new 17X HE axle for 4×2 and 6×2 heavy-haul applications targets a 1% efficiency improvement over Meritor’s previous offering. The Meritor Lube Management system is standard, offering reduced lubrication volume, and Meritor’s use of laser welding to join the ring gear and differential housing eliminates the need for bolts, which contribute to churning losses. The 1.95 fast gear ratio equips applications for down speeding. The axle offers a gross axle weight rating (GAWR) of up 40,000 pounds.
The new RT160 HE tandem axle targets a 1% efficiency improvement over Meritor’s previous product due to the Meritor Lube Management System and fuel-efficient bearings. Offering a GAWR of 46,000, the tandem axle is equipped with axle ratios of 2.67 and 2.80 for down speeding.
