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ZF unveils 'smart' steering and latest heavy truck IFS
Page 14
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Brian Weatherley was present at ZF's pre-Hanover innovations seminar in Germany last week, and he liked what he saw.
ELECTRO-HY DR AU LIC steering systems that automatically compensate for side winds and ruts in the road, a lower-maintenance AS-Tronic auto and an independent frontsuspension system for the next generation of 'low-emission' heavy trucks were just some of the products revealed by 2F at its pre-Hanover innovations seminar in Germany last week.
CM experienced prototype versions of ZF's Servotwin' and `Servoactive steering systems at a test track outside Stuttgart and was impressed by both.
Servotwin adds an electric servo motor to the normal hydraulic steering box and, using electronics, automatically adjusts the truck's steering in the event of strong side winds. It also automatically self-centres and compensates for any 'oversteering' by a driver, and provides variable resistance on the steering wheel depending on the vehicle's road-speed.
Servoactive has an additional planetary gear superimposed on the electro-hydraulic steering box, which automatically adds or subtracts steering input so the driver doesn't feel changes at the steering wheel—rather the system automatically adjusts the roadwheel steering angle.
As well as offering similar benefits to Servotwin. Servoactive also automatically adjusts steering-angle deviations caused by changes in a vehicle's suspension or when driving on a heavily rutted road, as well as correcting any steering imbalance caused by uneven braking on differing road surfaces.
2F says that while both systems are at the development stage, it is actively promoting them to its regular CV customers.
With the adoption of its 'Ecofluid M' fully synthetic oil (developed in tandem with two major oil companies), ZF says drain intervals on its AS-Tronic auto can now go to 500,000km — up from 350,000km with semi-synthetics and 150,000km with a mineral oil.
The AS-Tronic control unit has been relocated from the cab to the rear of the actual gearbox housing too.
With the need for more cooling around the next generation of Euro-5/Euro-6 power units, ZF claims that its latest independent front-suspension package offers greater air flow around the engine compared with a conventional straight beam-axle and leafspring setup.
ZF has already sold the system to Freightliner in the US, which will fit it on its bonneted tractors later this year.