Brakes are an essential component of your final drive. They help make the machine easier to handle on hard ground.

If the brakes experience any damage, you lose control over your final drive. It may result in an accident and severe injury or damage to your vehicle resulting in extra expenditures.

Therefore, to avoid such loss, you need to be familiar with the type of damage that can occur. What measures can you apply to prevent it? Don’t worry this blog post will guide you through all such useful information. Let’s get started!

Introduction: Damaged Final Drive Brakes

A brake is a mechanical device that stops the source of rotation, normally via friction. You can use it to slow or stop a rotating element, such as a wheel, cylinder, or shaft.

You can use various mechanisms to apply brake forces on end-effectors. Usually, you can achieve this by having one or more movable pistons engage with brakes.

The function of the brake in the final drive is to stop the engine’s and transmission’s motion. It applies pressure to the sprocket connected with it.

Suppose you observe an unusual rattling sound or vibrations in your final drive. Then it may represent a severe issue related to your brakes. If you point out this issue in time, you will find out that this is because of a faulty charge pump. The role of the charge pump is to provide enough power to the brakes within your final drive.

But if for any reason you cannot point out the exact cause of vibrations or sounds. Then this will lead to severe damage to your brake pack or assembly in your final drive.

Brake Assembly of Final Drive

As you can see in the image below, it represents a severely damaged final drive brake assembly. Upon keen observation, you will find that splines are no longer in exact shape. There is no chance that you can get this brake assembly repaired.

The sole reason behind this is a faulty charge pump. The pump was unable to meet enough power/ pressure requirements. The owner failed to detect the issue in time. This is the main reason why his brake housing faces a complete failure. No need to ask if the brake pack remains intact. It also gets damaged.

See the image below-containing brake housing. Did you find something weird? You cannot until you have a closer look at the teeth and the splines of the brake pack. You will witness clearly that teeth experience a drag motion along splines.

This will lead to the marking and removal of metal in chunks. This is the main source of vibrations and noise. You can observe these signs when operating your final drive at higher speeds.

Down below, you will find the detailed image representing damage to splines. You can see the position of teeth dragging on splines. The material pieces chip away because of this dragging, leading to severe contamination within hydraulics. The new brake housing does not have the appearance shown in the image below.

Brake Pack of Final Drive

On isolating your brake pack from the final excavator drive, if you observe discoloration, please note it indicates a faulty brake pack. The image below clearly shows the dark edges. This sign indicates that the temperature of your brake pack discs rises to a level that has affected their strength.

The image also represents some of the broken brake discs, which you can see in the image right below. If you see more keenly, then you will notice damage to teeth. Luckily the cost of the brake pack is not too high, but the cost of the brake hub is too high.

The following image features a couple of brake sets, and you can see the difference between both sets. The set on the right-hand show’s discoloration. While on the left-hand side, the set is free from damage.

As time passes, the brake pack faces wear and tear. The time comes when you need to replace it with a new one. You will observe rapid wear if your charge pump cannot perform its intended function.

How to Prevent the Damage?

You can prevent the damage from crossing the set limit. If you do this, then this will result in worse conditions. The failure of the braking system is mainly because of the faulty charge pump.

The charge pump is the main power source of your final drive braking system. They supply the exact pressure you need for operating your braking system. The signs you can see because of a faulty charge pump include vibrations and noises.

Take care of your final drive braking system by applying proper maintenance measures. Some of the main maintenance measures are as follows:

• Check the hydraulic fluid level in your final drive and maintain it at the optimum level.
• Determine if there is any leakage exist in hydraulic lines. This may also lead to the extensive loss in pressure you need for braking.
• Check if the seals are in normal condition. If there exists damage to seals, then replace them timely.
• Change the oil in your final drive on time. This will prevent low oil levels and also contamination.
• If the tracks are not at the proper tension level, it will also affect the braking system. Keep them at correct tension levels.

Following all the above-mentioned measures elongate the life of your final drive braking system.

Verdict

The thing we want is that you should consider the performance of each component. If you ignore it, then it will only make the problems worse. It will also lead to more expenses. This can also affect the other component’s performance.

You can perform troubleshooting on your components from time to time. This will save you money and time. We have discussed all the effective measures that you should know about making your braking system last longer.

Xugong offers a range of products and services, including transmission components and final drive braking system repair.

We can help you increase your performance while lowering the cost of ownership. Xugong has the quality products and expertise to keep your vehicle on the road.

Contact Xugong Today!