New Product Headliners

June 1, 1997
Composite reefers from Stoughton Pultruded construction techniques offer weight and strength advantages. Stoughton Composites is making Revolutions -- 48- and 53-ft. refrigerated trailers that are said to contain a greater percentage of plastic composite than those of any other trailer maker.The Revolutions' 0.065-in. interior and exterior skins are thicker than the more commonly used 0.040-in. aluminum

Composite reefers from Stoughton Pultruded construction techniques offer weight and strength advantages. Stoughton Composites is making Revolutions -- 48- and 53-ft. refrigerated trailers that are said to contain a greater percentage of plastic composite than those of any other trailer maker.

The Revolutions' 0.065-in. interior and exterior skins are thicker than the more commonly used 0.040-in. aluminum sheet, offering both weight and strength advantages. Stoughton makes its trailer materials by forming the skins in a way that is similar to aluminum extrusion. But instead of forcing pressurized molten metal into a form, the trailer maker pultrudes, or pulls, fibers and resins through heated dies. This process produces a continuous flow of high-strength material used as panels and structural members in the trailers.

The new trailer's floor assembly is made of the same fiber-reinforced polymer composite as the structural elements of the frontwall, roof, and rear doors. The inside hollows of each section are filled with a non-CFC polyurethane insulating foam. The modular pultruded composite foam-filled system provides improved thermal properties. Filled sections are then bonded together, forming a leak-proof box structure.

"The pultruded composite process gives trailers exceptional strength and also allows us to save tare weight," explains Rob Sjostedt, Stoughton Composites' president and COO. He points out that the base weight of the 53-ft., 102-in.-wide CRNL53WB0 reefer is only 12,603 lb. with all heavy-duty options.

The Revolution can be repaired with a flush patch -- without use of rivets -- and thus returned to its original aesthetic, structural, and full-insulating condition, adds Sjostedt.

Synthetic grease from Dryden Dryden Oil Co. has developed a synthetic wheel-end lubricant, Drydene SHL 00, to help over-the-road fleets address the problem of leaking wheel seals.

The new lubricant is an NLGI 00 "semi-fluid" grease. The lube's synthetic base stock is mobile at low temperatures and stable at high temperatures, which can add to the service life of the wheel hub assemblies, says Dryden.

The formulation includes a lithium complex thickener, which provides water resistance, shear stability, and stability under high-temperature conditions. Extreme pressure and anti-wear additives provide protection against rust, corrosion, wear, and high temperatures.

According to Dryden, Drydene SHL 00 can also be used in industrial, quarry, mining, or construction applications where a semi-fluid lube is recommended.

Delco Remy America offers three new SI alternators During the past several months, Delco Remy America (DRA) has introduced three new System Integral (SI) alternators for heavy-duty vehicles; two are brushless and one is a conventional design.

The brushless models -- the 33-SI and 34-SI -- are rated at 135 amps at 12V. They replace the 30-SI. Recommended for vehicles having large electrical load requirements, these alternators share similar design and operating characteristics, except that the 34-SI has the extra mounting ear for more stability in high-horsepower, high-vibration engine applications. Called "intelligent alternators," they feature a special diagnostic regulator that transmits charging-system data over the J1708 communications bus to an on-board diagnostic system.

Unlike the 33-SI and 34-SI, which produce current by means of induction, the 145-amp 22-SI works in a conventional manner: a rotor (field coil) spinning within a stator (winding). This replacement for the 21-SI has brushes that are 400% larger for longer brush life, says Mike Crull, field service manager for DRA.

The 33-SI and 34-SI alternators are warranted for 3 yr./ 350,000 mi. The 22-SI is covered for 18 mo./225,000 mi.

Grote lamp can be used vertically or horizontally Grote Industries has introduced a sealed oval stop/tail/turn lamp featuring LED technology and lens optics that permit horizontal or vertical placement. The new lamp, the Ultra-Seal 60 Series, eliminates the need to carry two different oval LED stop/ tail/turn lamps to comply with photometric requirements. Using a lens design that overlaps and intensifies the light produced by 48 T13/4 diodes, the new lamp emits a more uniform, blended light pattern that is less reliant on the light output of the individual diodes.

The 60 Series is available in grommet and theft-resistant flange-mount designs and male-pin electrical termination. The lamp's vibration-proof, solid-state circuit board and weather-tight lens seals allow a service life of 100,000 hours, which is in line with that of other LED lamps, according to Grote.

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