Effective brake adjustment setup and maintenance is vital for truck safety, the Australian Trucking Association’s Senior Engineering Adviser, Chris Loose, said today.

Mr Loose was releasing the ATA’s new Technical Advisory Procedure on slack adjuster setup and compliance to the National Heavy Vehicle Inspection Manual (NHVIM). The advisory procedure was developed by the ATA’s Industry Technical Council.

“Understanding the correct adjustment for slack adjusters is important to improving brake performance and having safer trucks on our roads,” Mr Loose said.

“We’ve seen longer stroke brake chambers become standard on a range of truck models over recent years, and it’s important that truck operators understand what version is fitted on their truck and how it should be set up and maintained.

“Getting the setup right will improve brake performance and improve safety.”

The new technical advisory procedure includes advice on chamber stroke and readjustment lengths, identification of stroke on the brake chamber end cap, brake chamber stroke length, and correct mounting of chambers with slack adjusters.

The procedure provides information on a stroke checking tool and examples of templates and guides for correct adjustment.

Mr Loose said the document also provided some supplier links for service, maintenance and correct setup.

“There is a range of suppliers of both manual and automatic slack adjusters, all with unique designs and methods of function,” Mr Loose said.

“It is important to buy the right quality of equipment built to the appropriate SAE standards, and to ensure they are regularly serviced and maintained.”

This is the latest in the ATA’s series of technical advisory procedures, which provide best practice guidance for trucking operators, maintainers and suppliers about key technical issues. The slack adjuster setup procedure is available on the ATA website.