ACOFAS has been selected to chair the Thursday Education Workshops to be held at HDAW’10 in January 2010 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Committee is chaired by Gordon Botts of ACOFAS, with committee members, Lee Greer of Page Brake, Todd Kindem from ArvinMeritor, Scott Ostrom of both SSA and ACOFAS, John Messina representing TARA.
The focus of the Workshops is not to teach anyone how to repair anything. The focus is to bring attention of the dangers involved if proper technician training is not an ongoing company policy. The speakers for these presentations will be:
- John Knutson from Hendrickson-International covering the STEERTEK axle and the AIRTEK steer axle suspension. John will discuss the problems that will be caused by improper axle maintenance and lack of repair knowledge.
- Mark Melletat from ArvinMeritor will discuss what can happen with improper awareness of ABS components, maintenance, and programming. The importance of knowing how to and checking the vehicle prior to maintenance.
- ConMet’s Roger Maye will discuss the problems you face if your technicians do not know proper torque specifications and how to determine if the wheel end needs to be replaced.
- As an added attraction, Sandeep Kar will lead Paul Johnston, of Arinmeritor, Roger Maye, and John Knutson in a panel discussion regarding the new FMVSS 121 stopping distance requirements. The first go-round with "121" in 1975 required the complete remake of the heavy-duty truck. What changes will we see coming? Heavier axles again? Different brake systems? Stronger hubs and wheel end hardware? What is coming in the future for our technicians? What will we need to do to get ready for this change in brake torque?