Freightliner - Brake sytems that tap in to air supply

[adonh]

This was posted in another thread on Toad brake systems:

"Freightliner frowns on tapping into the air supply when adding a supplemental braking system to your toad. In fact we were told at Camp Freightliner that if you have service at (at least the Gaffney location) Freightliner and they notice it, they will disconnect the added air connector for the toad brakes."

I can't believe that to be correct. I have the SMI Air Force One on my Freightliner chassis. Comments, thanks.

[spinn]

Learned the same thing from Spartan today. Spartan sells a kit ($320) which includes a separate air tank and isolation valves. This allows the supplementary braking system to have its own reservoir and isolate it from the chassis brakes.
The reason given its that there is a requirement from the government on how chassis air must be handled. Tapping into chassis air violates the requirement. The Spartan person giving the talk at the FMCA Rally quoted the statute but I can't remember it.

So I guess technically if you are at a Spartan or freightliner facility and they see a violation they are compelled (legally) to fix it.

Just the messenger

[adonh]

Originally Posted by spinn

Learned the same thing from Spartan today. Spartan sells a kit ($320) which includes a separate air tank and isolation valves. This allows the supplementary braking system to have its own reservoir and isolate it from the chassis brakes.
The reason given its that there is a requirement from the government on how chassis air must be handled. Tapping into chassis air violates the requirement. The Spartan person giving the talk at the FMCA Rally quoted the statute but I can't remember it.

So I guess technically if you are at a Spartan or freightliner facility and they see a violation they are compelled (legally) to fix it.

Just the messenger

This is from the SMI web site

Will Air Force One affect my air brakes?

In a word no. SMI worked with Spartan Chassis and Bendix to create the only air brake system that meets federal regulations. These regulations are designed to protect the coach air supply as well as the towed vehicle in the event of a towing system failure.

[adonh]

Here is a response I received from SMI on the Freightliner and Spartan question concerning tapping in to the Chassis air system.

Good morning, I’m glad you brought that up since most do not do their research to this depth. We understood that as well. This is why we went to Spartan and asked them to help us design our kit. They did, and we actually offer the exact same kit they are offering in a smaller form. Spartan and Freightliner have approved our kit since it is DOT approved. This motorhome portion comes standard with every Air Force One kit. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions.


Regards,


Jason Foster
Customer Service

800-893-3763Info@smibrake.com

[spinn]

Nice work SMI! Thanks for that response, it is great to see a company willing to invest the resources that they have to ensure compliance. Unfortunately we do not always see that.

Steve