Air brake systems were first designed to slow trains. Air brakes are used in heavy machinery including semi-trucks, airplanes, trains and buses. Air brakes use compressed air instead of brake fluid for greater stopping power. Driving with or installing air brakes safely will protect you and others near you in transit.

Function

When the vehicle operator applies an air brake, compressed air stored in a limited air supply fires into brake lines and closes the braking mechanism. The longer and harder the brake pedal is applied the more air releases out of the supply system. The air compressor works in conjunction with the engine. An air brake will cease working if the air supply fires air faster than it can store it.

Driving Safety Tips

Inspect your air brake system before and after long journeys. Avoid unnecessary use of the air brakes so the air compressor retains enough pressure to slow the vehicle in an emergency situation. Check the steering brake air line for bulging, pinching and fitting looseness because a compromised air line will create rapid pressure loss.

Installation Tips

When installing air brakes wear clear glasses and gloves for protection. A properly installed air chamber and slack adjuster should not have an angle greater than 90-degrees between each component, as stated by the New Brunswick government. Always install air chambers and slack adjusters of the same size on each axle.

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Rear brake lines on most vehicles are connected to the rubber brake line running to the brake caliper via a tube nut. On the other end of the line is another tube nut connecting the brake line to the proportioning valve. To properly remove the rear brake lines, youll need a special wrench, called a flare nut or "tube nut" wrench.

Instructions

1

Break the lug nuts loose on the rear wheels. Turn the lugs 45 degrees with a tire wrench, but do not unseat the wheel from the wheel hub it is attached to.

2

Raise the vehicle onto jack stands. Place wheel blocks in front of the front wheels.
Jack up on the front lift point behind the radiator and place a jack stand under each of the rear jack points. Then, lower the vehicle onto the jack stands.

3

Finish removing the lug nuts and pull the rear wheels off the hub.

4

Place the brake fluid catch pan underneath your vehicles rear brake caliper (the one you will be working on).

5

Slide the flare nut wrench over the brake tubing just behind the tube nut wrench that connects the hard brake line to the rubber brake line.

6

Orient the flare nut wrench so that it fits over the end of the tube nut.

7

Place an open-end wrench underneath the tube nut on the fitting for the rubber brake line.

8

Remove the protective retainer clip on the rear brake line to the brake hose bracket with a pair of pliers.

9

Hold the open-end wrench still and turn the flare nut wrench counterclockwise to remove the brake line.

10

Pull the brake line off the brake hose.

11

Follow the line to the connection underneath the hood.

12

Remove the brake line to proportioning valve connection with the flare nut wrench. The proportioning valve is a small valve with many brake lines connected to it. The exact location will vary depending on your vehicle.

13

Pull the brake line off the proportioning valve.

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Everybody wants to save fuel, but therere lots and lots of incorrect advices I found on local and international motorcar forums on how to do it. Some of em make no difference, and some even worse! Dont know from where they got those advices - Im sure not from their own experiment/experience. Some of the advices defy the laws of physics [and thermodynamics].

The following are a bunch of wrong advices on tips for fuel saving.

1. Fill-up fuel tank in the morning
I have read/heard 1001 times that its best to fill car fuel tank in the early morning while the fuel is cold by making assumption that fuel are more dense at lower temperatures, so a liter of cooler fuel actually has more hydrocarbon molecules than a liter of warmer gasoline.

The fact is: The fuel stored underground has a very large heat sink which temperature is almost constant throughout the day. By touching the fuel pump nozzle while filling up the fuel tank one will feel the temperature - it is warmer than the ambient temperature, in the morning and cooler at midday/afternoon. You dont need a thermometer to measure it.



2. Change air filter often
Maintaining cars is important, but a clean air filter isnt going to save any fuel significantly. Modern engines have computer sensors that automatically adjust the fuel-air mixture as an increasingly clogged air filter chokes off the engines air supply. Of course engine power will decrease slightly as the air filter becomes clogged, but an increase in fuel consumption will be negligible. It takes cost less than the new air filter. Here Im talking on fuel saving - not performance ya.

As far as fuel saving is concerned, installing after market maintenance-free air-filters will do more harm than good [in a long run] to modern engines. Think a second, if it is good enough why not car producers install em in the first place? If u r talking on performance alone, just tune the car without the air filter!

3. Use premium or higher octane fuel
A lot of drivers think because their owners manual recommends premium, theyll get better fuel economy and performance with it. In reality , they may be paying more money for nothing.

Most modern na cars have Programmed Fuel Injection System, for which premium is "recommended" - but not "required" - wont suffer with RON95 or lower octane rating fuel. Modern engine technology comes to the rescue again. When sensors detect regular instead of premium fuel, the system automatically adjusts spark plug [and valve] timing. The result is a slight reduction in peak horsepower - but we never notice.

Always check owners manual before putting anything into your car. And if the car runs badly on RON95, by all means, go back to RON97, or Wee-Power or what_ever.

4. Pump up tires
Of course under-inflated tires are bad for handling and can even cause a crash. Improper tire inflation also causes tires to wear out faster and to heat up more, which could trigger a dangerous high-speed blow-out. Under inflated tires also reduce fuel economy.

So proper inflation is important.
But never over-inflate tires. Theyll get slightly better fuel economy because there will be less tread touching the road, reducing friction. But that means less grip for braking and turning. The added risk of a crash isnt worth the extra km a liter gained.

5. Reduce or do not use aircond.
True, air-conditioning makes extra work for the engine, increasing fuel use. But car air conditioners are much more efficient today than they used to be. Using the aircond will drop fuel economy by about 2 to 3% - to figure out the saving by turning aircond off is gaining around 10km [under RM2] when one drive fom KL to KB but one will pay more on cold drinks!

Meanwhile, driving at higher speeds with the windows down greatly increases aerodynamic drag. As speed increases, drag becomes more of an issue, making air-cond use the more efficient choice at high speeds.

6. Install fuel saving gadget and/or use fuel booster
Before even thinking of a device thats supposed to make car more fuel-efficient ask yourself:

Dont you think oil and car companies arent doing everything they can to beat their competitors?

Car/engine producers are already spending billions of Ringgit if not Dollars to increase fuel efficiency/mileage. If a car producer could make its cars go significantly farther on a liter simply by putting a device into the fuel line, dont think for a second it wouldnt be doing that. Its car sales also would go like goreng pisang panas.

Similarly, if there really was an additive that made fuel burn up more slowly, it would have been bought by major oil companies already and wouldnt be sold through direct selling over the Internet/SMS one bottle at a time. If Brand A fuel company could add something to its fuel that made cars go farther on a liter of fuel, cars would be lining up at the companys pumps and drive right past rivals fuel stations to come back to Brand A for more. Brand A stations could even charge more for their gas and still can sell. Click HERE for additional informations.

Borrowing a phrase from a friends blog...
"kalau nak menurut biar berakal, kalau mengikut biar berilmu..."

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