What people are saying about Brake Inspector®
“I now have had my Brake Inspector® system installed for some time. I was very impressed with the simplicity of the installation and set up of the unit. I had been running it in maintenance mode in the beginning and it actually found a brake problem on my truck. The right front light was slow to go on and I had the problem checked out at a dealer. They found a broken anchor spring inside the wheel that was causing the brake to not release fully. So I guess the unit has paid for itself now since this could have been a ticket if found at a scale. I now run it in driver mode and hope never to see a light stay on again. It is a great peace of mind to know it is checking my brake stroke every time I apply the brakes. It sure beats checking them once a day at pre trip time."
Rick Devereux
Devereux Haulage, Ennismore, Ontario
“We have been retrofitting our driver training trucks with the Brake Inspector® electronic brake monitor system. The ability to monitor air brake stroke activity in real time is a significant safety advantage. Brake Inspector® has been reliable in severe weather conditions and accurately alerts our drivers to brake faults as they happen. It’s a system that all fleet operators should consider installing.”
Karen Tavene
Director, Cutomized Training, Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
Brake Inspector® Diagnostic Capability
Broken Spring
Rick Devereux, Owner Operator was operating the system in maintenance mode and noticed the right steer light was slow in turning off. He took the truck to a dealership and they found a broken anchor spring inside the wheel that was causing the brake to not release fully. Had he not found it and the DOT did at a scale it would have meant a vehicle violation and a fine. According to Rick finding this problem basically paid for the system.
Defective Slack Adjusters
James Koronka, Owner Operator used the TOGGLE feature to inspect brake status at each wheel end. By using the toggle feature he noticed 3 of the slack adjusters kept going out of adjustment. He took the truck to his dealership and they confirmed that he had 3 defective slacks that were about to come off warranty. The dealership replaced them and based on the slack adjuster cost and labor he avoided an expensive service bill. James has stated that he would never have a truck without B.I. and did not realize how much money the system can save him.
Brake Fade
A major North American municipality called to advise the Brake Inspector® display module was not working properly. The driver had submitted a work order for a brake adjustment and when the tech checked the chamber, the system indicated proper adjustment. Further investigation revealed that the truck was having brake fade. By TOGGLING through each wheel end to the brake in question, the status LEDs indicated the stroke was approaching the DOT limit. In this instance the driver was hard on the brakes and was getting brake fade on the chamber. For every 600 degrees of brake temperature you lose approx. 1/2 inch of stroke and by the time the tech checked the brake, the temperature had dropped and the brake was in showing an in adjustment status adjustment.
TFX International has a couple tractor trailer units with Brake Inspector® installed. A TFX truck and trailer on the west coast was transporting 1 million dollars of exotic cars in the trailer through the mountains. The driver did a brake check at the top of the mountain and everything was OK. However as he was coming down the back of the mountain he noticed 2 brakes going from green to red on the display module. This was due to brake fade, a situation that a driver is often unaware until it is too late and has no braking force on the affected brakes. According to TFX Brake Inspector® potentially saved the load of 1 million dollars of exotic cars since the driver had enough time to cool down the brakes and avoided going into a run-off situation.
Foundation Brake Problems
One customer with a very well maintained motor-coach fleet installed Brake Inspector® on 6 coaches. Brake Inspector® B.I. identified various brake faults on 4 coaches. These included a non-activating brake on a tag axle, 2 brakes out of adjustment, 1 defective slack adjuster and a weak parking brake spring. The head of maintenance stated they would not have found these problems unless they were specifically looking for them during scheduled maintenance. In this customer’s situation, Brake Inspector® was a preventive maintenance tool and paid for itself very quickly by diagnosing faults before they become an expensive repair.
Unnecessary Brake Adjustment
A major North American municipality had an ongoing issue completing unnecessary brake adjustments. Drivers would state that the brakes did not feel right and they needed the brakes checked. Maintenance staff would free up a service bay to address the problem only to find the brakes were in adjustment. After retrofitting the fleet with Brake Inspector®, drivers were able to determine if the brakes were out-of-adjustment by viewing brake status with the on dash display module. The City eliminated the unnecessary brake adjustments saving maintenance lost time and keeping the vehicles on the street.