A new intelligent axle system from ArvinMeritor can cut drive-axle parasitic losses by 30% and improve fuel economy by up to 1%, according to company officials.
Introduced at the IAA Commercial Vehicle truck show in Hannover, the LogixDrive system will be introduced in the Meritor 17X Euorpean market drive axle in early 2012, with North American applications following sometime after that, according to Carsten Reinhardt, ArvinMeritor COO.
LogixDrive employs electronic controls to actively monitor vehicle operating parameters and optimize lubrication within the axle based on temperature, speed, braking and torque conditions, minimizing parasitic power loss due to oil churning and gear and bearing friction.
The company also announced a new European market heavy-haul drive axle, the Meritor 18X. Available starting next year, it is a single reduction unit capable of handling GCWs up to 65 tons and more than 700 hp., according to the company. Designed to handle potential future weight limit increases, it will be offered with a wide variety of final drive rations, including a new 2.47 ratio intended for low-RPM operations.
