Managing Higher Torques with Engine Downspeeding Essential Says New Report

Dana Holding, a global leader in the supply of engineered driveline, sealing, and thermal-management technologies that improve vehicle performance, has published a new white paper for the commercial trucking industry that addresses the need for fleets and original-equipment manufacturers to properly manage the higher driveline torques that are resulting from the increasing use of more fuel-efficient downsped engines.

Titled “The Right Solution for Downsped Engines,” the paper is available at: www.danacv.com/downspeedingwhitepaper.

Authored by Andy Nieman, vice president of global engineering for Dana Commercial Vehicle Technologies, it describes the motivations behind downspeeding, what constitutes downspeeding, and fuel consumption and environmental benefits. The piece goes on to explain how the resulting higher torques place added stress on a vehicle’s axle, driveshaft, and inter-axle.

Different strategies are then presented for managing the higher torques, including Dana’s recommendation for specifying proper driveline components. These components, need to be carefully engineered, thoroughly tested, and proven to be fully capable of delivering the necessary performance in a high-torque environment.

The Dana system optimized for engine downspeeding includes the Spicer® AdvanTEK® 40 tandem axle, the SPL® 350 driveshaft, and the SPL 250 inter-axle shaft. The Spicer AdvanTEK 40 axle, which enables increased overall vehicle efficiency of up to 2 percent is now available with ratios that support the engine downspeeding efforts of truck manufacturers, including the industry’s fastest axle ratio of 2.26:1.

Ultimately, the company notes that the Spicer AdvanTEK 40 axle “can help a truck operating in a typical linehaul duty cycle save more than 2,700 gallons of diesel fuel over a five-year time span.”

The other piece of Dana’s engine downspeeding solution is the SPL 350 driveshaft and SPL 250 inter-axle shaft, which have been engineered to maximize the efficiency and durability of the Spicer AdvanTEK 40 tandem axle and low rpm engines.

Category: Engines & Drivetrains, General Update