Truck and Brake Systems

Objectives
Identify the components of a truck air brake
system.
Explain the operation of a dual-circuit air brake
system.
Understand what is meant by pneumatic and
torque imbalance.
Describe the role played by the Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard No. 121 (FMVSS No.
121) on present-day air brake systems.

(Objectives cont.)
Identify the major components and systems of
an air compressor.
Outline the operating principles of the valves
and controls used in an air brake system.
Explain the operation of an air brake chamber.
Outline the functions of the hold-off and service
circuits in truck and trailer brake systems.

INTRODUCTION
The brakes on a truck are probably its most vital
safety component. It takes a truck with a 450horsepower engine and an 80,000 lb load around
90 seconds to accelerate to 50 mph. From that
speed, the same truck must be brought safely to a
stop in less than 5 seconds. If brakes were rated
in horsepower, trucks would be required to have
brakes rated between 10 and 20 times the
horsepower rating of the engine.

EVOLUTION OF BRAKES
Today, truck brakes are either hydraulically
actuated or air actuated. Hydraulic brake
systems tend to be used on light-duty trucks
that usually do not have to be coupled to
trailers. Medium- and heavy-duty trucks use
air-actuated brakes almost exclusively.

HYDRAULIC BRAKES
Hydraulic brake systems use liquid confined
in a circuit to transfer mechanical force from
the drivers foot to the brake shoes.
Depressing the brake pedal creates a
mechanical force that is transmitted through a
pushrod to a piston in the master cylinder.

This piston forces the brake fluid through the

brake lines to slave pistons in calipers or
cylinders located at each wheel assembly.
The hydraulic pressure actuating these
pistons forces brake pads or shoes against a
disc or drum that rotates with the wheel
assembly.

WHY AIR BRAKES ARE USED IN TRUCKS?

Air brakes are used almost exclusively in heavy
duty trucks and trailers. They have some very
definite advantages over hydraulic brakes in
heavy-duty highway vehicles, including:

Air is limitless in supply. It must be

cleaned, compressed, stored, and distributed
properly in an air brake system. Minor leaks
do not result in brake failures.

 The air brake circuit can be expanded

easily so that trailers can be coupled and
uncoupled from the tractor circuit by a person
with no mechanical knowledge.
In addition to providing the energy
required to brake the vehicle, compressed
air also is used as the control medium. That
is, it is used to determine when and with how
much force the brakes should apply in any
situation.

FMVSS 121
Legislation introduced in 1975 called Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 121
(known as FMVSS 121 in the United States,
CMVSS 121 in Canada) governs all air brake
system requirements. It has been modified in
small ways to keep up to date with
technology, but from the beginning it required
all highway vehicles using air brakes to use a
dual-circuit application circuit.

FMVSS 121
It also is now a requirement of FMVSS 121
that all highway tractors manufactured after
March 1, 1997, and trailers manufactured
after March 1, 1998, be equipped with
antilock braking systems (ABS).

DEFINING STOPPING DISTANCE

FMVSS 121 specifies that a tractor/trailer
combination must be brought to a complete
standstill within 355 feet (108 meters). This
stopping distance has to be achieved with the
rig loaded, unloaded, and from any speed.
There is a current notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) issued by the National
Highway Transportation Safety
Administration (NHTSA) to have this stopping
distance reduced by up to 30 percent. As of
2012 tractor trailer combo down to 310 feet.

THE AIR SUPPLY CIRCUIT

AIR COMPRESSORS

Belt-driven Air Compressor

Air Compressor Components

Compressor Operation

Unloader Valve Assembly

GOVERNORS

Governor cutaway and port

identification

Shop Talk
FMVSS 121 requires that governor cut-out be
set within the range of 115 psi to 135 psi. The
ATA TMC recommends that governor cut-out
be set at 125 psi.

 It is a legal requirement that governor cutin occur at no more than 25 psi less than
governor cut-out pressure.
If the difference between governor cut-out
and cut-in is less than 20 psi, the result is too
frequent cycling of the compressor loaded
and unloaded cycles.

3 Types of Air Dryers

Alcohol Evaporator
After cooler (wet tank only)
Desiccant type
Air dryers main purpose is to remove
moisture from the air to prevent system
freezing and cavitations.

Air Dryer Theory

Should be place down hill far enough
away from the compressor that the air
temperature will be between 32 and 160
degrees when the air enters the dryer.
(copper tube)
If below will freeze up
If above the oil wont be removed by the
desiccant

Air Dryer Operation

Max amount of water passed by a wet
tank in 6000 mile service should be 1 Tsp
or less.
Purge signal comes from the governor at
the same time the unloader valve in the
compressor is signaled.
Air dryer purge
First blast cleans bottom of dryer of solids and
liquids
Second stage lasts 20-30 sec. slow blow dry
of desiccant (return air from wet tank)

AIR DRYER

Aftercooling
The air dryer functions first as a heat
exchanger, that is, an aftercooler, to reduce
the air temperature, dropping it to a value
cool enough to condense any vaporized
moisture it receives. Actually, first-stage
cooling of the hot compressed air occurs in
the discharge line that connects the
compressor with the dryer. In some older
applications, copper lines were used for this
purpose.

Air dryer cutaway showing

location of desiccant pack

Air Dryer Terminology

Dryer Reservoir Module

A dryer reservoir module (DRM) is an
integrated reservoir, dryer, governor, and
four-valve pressure protection pack. The
components that make up this assembly all
function as they do in a nonintegrated
assembly. They are commonly used in
current trucks.

Trailer Air Dryers

Shop Talk
Air dryers must be fitted with a safety valve.
Because the system safety valve is located in
the supply tank, if the hose from the dryer to
the supply tank got plugged (with ice or
contaminants) or kinked, the governor would
not cut out the compressor effective cycle,
and the resulting high pressure could explode
the air dryer.

ALCOHOL EVAPORATORS

WARNING:
Alcohol evaporators MUST be located
downstream from the air dryer in the supply
circuit. Alcohol will turn air dryer desiccant
into mush if pumped through the system.

Air Tank Volume

FMVSS 121 requires that the total volume of
compressed air stored on board the tractor
dedicated to the brake system be a minimum
of 12 times the total brake chamber volume.
In dual-circuit brake systems, at least three
air tanks are required. Most have more. Every
air tank is required to have its own draincock
or spitter valve.

LOW-PRESSURE INDICATOR
In an air brake system, if the system air pressure
drops too low, the brakes will cease to function
properly. A low-pressure indicator is a pressuresensing electrical switch that closes at any time
the pressure drops below its preset value. The
low-pressure indicator should be specified to
close at 50 percent governor cut-out pressure. In
a typical system, that would be at approximately
60 psi. When the switch closes, a light and a
buzzer are actuated.

Shop Talk
Air tanks are pressure vessels. All vehicle air
tanks are required to be hydrostatically tested
after assembly. They should never be repairwelded. Even if the weld was sound, the heat
causes interior anticorrosive liner to melt and
peel away from the tank wall. Failed air tanks
always should be replaced.

CHECK VALVES
A check valve routes airflow in one direction
and, in most cases, prevents any backflow. A
couple of different types of check valves are
used in air brake systems to perform such
tasks as pressure protection and priority
routing.

One-Way Check Valve

Two-Way Check Valves

Other Supply Circuit Valves

DASH CONTROL VALVES

Dash control valves are push-pull air valves
that enable the driver to release and apply
the vehicle parking brakes and supply the
trailer with air pressure. Most of these valves
are pressure sensitive, so they will
automatically move from the applied to
exhaust position if the supply pressure drops
below a certain minimum.

DASH VALVE CONFIGURATIONS

Two types of dash valve configurations are
used: two valve and three-valve systems. The
function, color, and shape of each of the
three valves are determined in FMVSS 121
legislation, so they function exactly the same
regardless of which original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) chassis they are in. The
shape is important because it means the
valves can be identified by touch.

BRAKE CHAMBERS
Brake chambers convert the compressed air
into the mechanical force required to stop a
vehicle. A simple service brake chamber
consists of a two-piece housing within which
is a diaphragm, a pushrod, and a retraction
spring.

Cutaway view of a typical air brake

chamber

Hold-Off Chamber
The rear section of the spring brake chamber
houses a large compressed spring capable of
exerting a force of up to 1,800 lb. This spring
is sometimes known as a maxi spring, named
for the manufacturer of the first spring brakes.
The spring brake section of the spring brake
chamber has a diaphragm that functions to
hold off the spring.

CAUTION:
It takes 1,725 lb of force to cage the power
spring in a typical spring brake chamber. This
spring force can kill. Never take any risks with
spring brake chambers.

Caging Spring Brakes

All spring brakes have a means of
mechanically caging them. Caging a spring
brake compresses the main or power spring.
A spring brake should be mechanically caged
before it is either removed or replaced. Most
spring brakes are sold with a cage bolt
assembly. Cage bolt lugs fit to an internal
cage plate to compress the power spring.

Shop Talk
The most common spring brake chamber is
known as a 30/30. A 30/30 spring brake area
has a service diaphragm of 30 square inches
and a hold-off diaphragm of 30 square
inches. A standard 30/30 spring brake
chamber provides a specified maximum of 2
inches of stroke. Brake stroke should be reset
when it exceeds 1.75 inches of stroke.

Linear force =
30 sq. in. 100 psi = 3,000 lb

NOTE:
Around 95 percent of braking on a loaded
tractor/trailer combination involves brake
application pressures of 25 psi or less; 85
percent of braking involves brake application
pressures of 15 psi or less.

Spring brake chamber operation

Brake Chamber Stroke

The distance between the pressure and
nonpressure plates of the brake chamber
defines the limits of its stroke.

Brake Chamber Size

Brake chambers are sized by the effective
sectional area of the diaphragm. As of now,
this is always measured in square inches. For
instance, a brake chamber with a 30-squareinch diaphragm is known as a series 30. Most
tractor drive and trailer axles use either series
30 or series 24 diaphragms.

Spring Brake Chambers

SERVICE BRAKE APPLICATION

When a service application is made, air is
delivered from the primary and secondary
reservoirs to act on the service chambers. In
the commonly used spring brake chambers,
which can be used on all but the steering axle
brakes, the service chamber is the one
closest to the slack adjuster. The air pressure
that acts on the service chambers is
modulated and varies according to the
amount of braking required.

Foot Valve Construction

Role of the Foot Valve in the

Primary Circuit
The primary portion of the foot valve is actuated
mechanically. This means that it is directly
connected to the treadle. A supply of air from the
primary reservoir is made available to the
primary supply port at system pressure. Travel
of the primary piston will determine how much
air is metered out to actuate whatever
components are in the primary circuit. Typically,
these will be the tractors tandem drive axles and
the trailers brake system.

FOOT VALVES

Brake Valves in the Primary

Circuit
In most cases, relay valves will be used to
actuate the tractor brakes on the primary
circuit. These usually will be the rear tractor
brakes. The relay valve signal is delivered
from the foot valve using a small-gauge
signal line. The small-gauge line is used to
reduce lag. Signal lag tends to be greatest
when the volume of compressed air is
greatest.

RELAY VALVES
A relay valve is a simple remote-controlled
brake valve. It can be described as a
proportioning pilot valve.

Primary circuit connection to a

relay valve.

QUICK-RELEASE VALVES
Quick-release valves are designed to speed
the exhausting of air from an air circuit. They
are used in brake and other chassis air
systems. They commonly are used to
distribute air to the hold-off chambers in
spring brake assemblies. In pre-ABS, they
were used to distribute air to the front axle
service brakes. A quick-release valve usually
has a single inlet port and two outlet ports.

Trailer Primary Circuit Brake

Signal
When the foot valve is depressed, a signal is
routed from the primary portion of the valve to
a two-way check valve downstream from the
trailer application valve. Whenever the trailer
application signal from the primary portion of
the foot valve exceeds that on the opposite
side of the two-way check valve, it shuttles
the valve to route the signal to the tractor
protection valve.

TRACTOR PROTECTION VALVES

The tractor protection (TP) valve has two
main functions. First, it acts as the means of
routing and switching the trailer air supply
and trailer service signal from the tractor.
Second, it functions to protect the tractor air
supply in the event of a trailer breakaway or
total air loss.

Two-line Tractor Protection Valve

Shop Talk
FMVSS 121 requires that the TP valve
isolate the tractor air supply from that of the
trailer when pressure drops to between 20
and 45 psi.

SECONDARY CIRCUIT
The secondary service circuit is usually
responsible for actuating the brakes over the
tractor steering axle and trailer valve-sourced
applications of the trailer service brakes. This
is why the secondary circuit is sometimes
referred to as the front brake circuit.

Role of the Foot Valve in the

Secondary Circuit
When it is operating normally, the secondary or
relay portion of the foot valve is actuated
pneumatically; that is, by air pressure. Whatever
air pressure value is metered by the primary
portion of the foot valve to actuate the primary
circuit is also metered to actuate the relay portion
of the valve. The relay portion of the treadle
valve distributes air to actuate the brakes on the
secondary circuit.

Brake Valves in the

Secondary Circuit
Relay valves or quick-release valves may be
used to actuate the tractor brakes on the
secondary circuit. In most cases, the
secondary circuit is responsible for the front
service brakes. In many older systems,
because the front brakes were located close
to the foot valve, they were actuated directly
by the relay portion of the foot valve.

Front Brake Proportioning

Most front axle braking is pneumatically
proportioned in non-ABS systems, whether
quick-release or relay valves are used. How
the application pressures are proportioned
depends on how the truck is being operated.
Although proportioning is theoretically
unnecessary in ABS, in fact it is often still
used because of the redundancy requirement
of FMVSS 121.

RATIO VALVES
Some years ago, a front-wheel limiting valve
(also known as a wet-dry switch) was used in
many air brake systems. Although not currently
legal, there are still a few examples of frontwheel limiting valves around. This valve was
switched from the cab and reduced the
application pressure to the front axle service
brakes to 50 percent of application pressure
when toggled to the wet road setting.

INVERSION VALVES
Inversion valves are used on many current
brake systems. They are used to provide
braking under emergency conditions resulting
from a complete system failure. They function
by modulating the parking brake hold-off air
to provide service braking in a failure mode.

Bobtailing
Research into the braking dynamics of bobtail
tractors (a tractor running without a trailer) and
unloaded and loaded tractor/trailer combinations
on both dry and slippery pavement has shown
that drivers maintain better control under panic
and severe braking when full application
pressures are delivered to the front axle brakes.
For this reason, it has been mandatory since
1984 for all North American highway tractors to
be equipped with front axle brakes.

CAUTION:
If a tractor is converted to a straight truck, the
bobtail proportioning valve must be replaced
with a nonproportioning relay valve. In a case in
which a long-wheelbase tractor was converted
to a wrecker, the operator complained of lazy
service braking until the treadle was floored
when the brakes would lock. Replacement of the
bobtail proportioning valve with a standard relay
valve fixed the problem.

HOSES
Two hoses are required to couple the air and
brake system of the tractor with that of the
trailer. Flexible hoses are required because
the tractor and trailer articulate at the fifth
wheel. The two hoses are usually connected
directly to the tractor protection valve. One
hose is known as the trailer supply hose, and
the other is known as the service brake hose.

GLADHANDS

Polarized Gladhands
Polarized gladhands make cross-coupling
impossible. When gladhands are polarized,
the supply gladhand on the tractor will only
engage with the supply gladhand on the
trailer and likewise with the service
gladhands.

Quick-Release Gladhands
Quick-release gladhands are sometimes
used in the service supply signal to speed up
brake release times. When a quick-release
gladhand is used in the service signal line to
the trailer, it exhausts at the gladhand rather
than at the signal source.

Dummy Gladhands
These are located on the tractor. They allow
the live gladhands to be connected when the
tractor is being bobtailed. Dummy gladhands
dead-end the hoses and keep the trailer
supply and service lines safely out of the way
of rotating drive shafts. They should be
vented to allow for proper operation of some
types of bobtail proportioning valve.

Trailer Secondary Circuit Brake

Signal
The trailer application signal from either a dash
or steering column-mounted trailer application
valve (also known as the spike, trolley valve or
broker-brake [slang]) is sourced from the
secondary circuit. A supply of secondary circuit
air at system pressure is available at the trailer
application valve. When the lever on the valve
is actuated, air is metered to the trailer service
application signal line.

TRAILER SPRING AND SERVICE

PRIORITY SYSTEMS
Most trailers manufactured since 1975that
is, those covered by FMVSS 121are
required to have a means of mechanically
parking the brakes. This almost always
involves spring brakes. Today most trailer
parking/ emergency brake systems use one
of two pneumatic systems:
Service brake priority
Spring brake priority

Park-on-Spring
Most current trailers meeting FMVSS 121
standards use park-on-spring brakes; we
know these as spring brake priority
systems. The trailer combination valves
used to achieve spring brake priority
incorporate a quick-release valve to direct air
to the hold-off diaphragms in the spring
chambers.

CAUTION:
When coupling a tractor to a trailer not
equipped with spring brake chambers, always
connect the gladhands and charge the trailer
with air before attempting to couple the fifth
wheel.

TRAILER BRAKE VALVES

Most trailers use a multifunctional brake
valve in a single housing, capable of
managing both service and
parking/emergency brake requirements,
pressure protecting the trailer system, and
modulating hold-off pressure.

FOUNDATION BRAKES

S-CAM FOUNDATION BRAKES

S-cam and
rollers

Flat cam and

roller.

CAUTION:
S-cams are oriented with left and right cam
profiles and must never be interchanged.

Spiders
The brake spider is bolted or welded to the
axle end and provides a mounting for the
foundation brake components. It must be
tough enough to sustain both the mechanical
forces and heat to which it is subjected. The
brake shoes are mounted to the spider by
means of either open or closed anchors. The
anchor is the pivot end of the shoe.

S-cam rollers

Q-brake, S-cam assembly

Edge Codes
Letters imprinted on the edge of heavy-duty
friction facings are used to describe the
coefficient of friction (Table 281). The first
letter indicates the cold coefficient of friction,
the second the hot coefficient of friction. The
further down in alphabetical sequence, the
higher the coefficient of frictionthat is, the
more aggressive the lining. So a G rating
indicates a higher coefficient of friction than an
F rating.

Brake Drums
Brake drums are manufactured of cast alloy
steels or fabricated steel. The two have
different coefficients of friction, so they should
never be mixed. Brake drums are
manufactured in several sizes, but 16.5
inches is by far the most common.

Wedge Brakes
A self-adjusting mechanism is standard on all
wedge brakes, and this is contained in the
wedge brake actuator cylinder. It consists of a
serrated pawl and spring that engages to
helical grooves in the actuator plungers. A
ratcheting action prevents excessive lining-todrum clearance occurring as the friction
linings wear.

WEDGE BRAKE SYSTEMS

Air Disc Brake Foundation Assembly.

AIR DISC BRAKES

Air disc brakes have been around for a
couple of decades, but it is only recently that
they have become widely used in the trucking
industry. This usage could become even
more widespread when FMVSS-121 reduced
stopping distances become effective in 2009.
Disc brakes have been proven to possess
better stopping efficiency than drum brakes.

Air Disc Brake Assembly Cutaway

Disc Brake Operation

The air disc brake assembly consists of a caliper
assembly, a rotor, and an actuator mechanism.
The actuator mechanism is a brake chamber,
usually acting on an eccentric lever to amplify its
force and convert the linear force produced by
the chamber into brake torque to a pair of
threaded tubes that act on the pads. The
objective of an air disc brake system is to apply
clamping force to a caliper assembly within which
the pads are mounted.

Downside of Air Disc Brakes

Air disc brakes on highway trucks have a
couple of disadvantages in this respect. First,
the total sectional area of the friction faces is
much smaller than brake shoes. This means
that more force must be applied to them.
Next, the physical shape of the rotor is less
able than a brake drum to dissipate the heat it
absorbs, meaning that it runs hotter and fails
earlier because of distortion.

Rotochambers
Rotochambers use the same principles as
typical brake chambers, except that in place
of the pancake diaphragm, a rolling-type
diaphragm is used. This produces a constant
output force throughout the pushrod stroke
and provides much longer stroke.

Rotochamber

Piston Brake (Chambers)

Piston brakes are a relatively new though
initially more costly option. They were first
introduced on firetrucks and transit buses but
some fleets, notably United Parcel Service
(UPS), use them exclusively. Piston brakes
use a more powerful power spring that
produces around 2,600 lb of linear force.

SLACK ADJUSTERS
The linear force produced by the brake
chamber must be converted into brake torque
(twisting force). Rotation of the S-cam forces
the shoes into the drum to effect braking.
Slack adjusters are used to connect the brake
chamber with the S-cam shaft.

(A) Manual and (B) Automatic

Slack Adjusters.

Manual Slack Adjusters

Stroke-Sensing Automatic
Slack Adjusters

Automatic Slack Adjuster

Clearance-Sensing Automatic
Slack Adjusters
Clearance-sensing automatic slack adjusters
respond only to changes in the return stroke
dimension, so they function almost opposite
to stroke-sensing models.

Shop Talk
Slack adjusters without a grease fitting should
not be assumed to be functional. Slack
adjusters should be lubricated with a lowpressure grease gun.

CAUTION:
The TMC warns against performing routine
manual adjustments of automatic slack
adjusters. Automatic slack adjusters that
require frequent adjustments to maintain
brake stroke within specification are an
indicator of a failed slack adjuster or serious
brake problems. More discussion on this can
be found in Chapter 31.

BRAKE SYSTEM BALANCE

Two factors determine the amount of braking
force applied to each wheel in a truck air
brake system. Because the control and
application circuits are managed by
compressed air, the first factor of a balanced
brake system is pneumatic balance. For a
service application to be balanced, each of
the service brake chambers on the vehicle is
charged with air at exactly the same pressure
value.

FACTORS AFFECTING BRAKE

BALANCE
Anything that changes on the brake or wheel
assembly can affect the brake balance. Tire
treads and their coefficient of friction
(aggressiveness) with the road surface both
impact the vehicle braking efficiency. The
fitting of low-profile tires also can produce
over braking because of the lower radii of the
tires.

AIR START SYSTEMS

Air cranking circuits do not ideally fit into
either the electrical cranking circuit or air
supply circuit chapters. However, although
not commonly used, there are enough air
starters used on trucks to justify a short
explanation of them somewhere in this book,
so we will deal with them here.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Summary
Slack adjusters multiply the force applied
to them by the brake chamber into brake
torque.
Brake torque applied to the S-camshafts
results in the shoes being forced against the
drum.
Air discs operate by using an air-actuated
caliper to squeeze brake pads against both
sides of a rotor.

Summary (cont.)
Wedge brakes use a drum, a pair of shoes,
and air-actuated wedges are used to force
the shoes against the drum.
Brake torque balance refers to the ability
of a brake system to apply balanced
mechanical brake force at all the foundation
brake assemblies.

Summary (cont.)
Pneumatic timing refers to the ability of an
air brake system to time the air control and
actuation circuits so all the foundation brake
components are applied at exactly the same
moment.
An air dual-circuit brake system is composed
of a supply circuit, primary circuit, secondary
circuit, parking/emergency control circuit, trailer
circuit, and foundation brake assemblies.

Summary (cont.)
Air compressors are single-stage,
reciprocating piston air pumps that are
either gear- or belt driven.
Air dryers are used to help eliminate
moisture and contaminants from the trucks
air system.

Summary (cont.)
The potential energy of compressed air is
changed into mechanical force in an air brake
system by slack adjusters and brake
chambers.
Brake chambers are specified by sectional
area in square inches. The most common
spring brake chamber is the 30/30.