As winter winds down across North America, Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake reminds fleets and drivers readying for springtime brake maintenance to fight rust jacking on two fronts. When choosing brake shoes, both a protective coating and strong friction material are needed to effectively combat this seasonally heightened risk of brake shoe corrosion and lining failure.

Although rust jacking can occur year-round, the combination of wet roads, temperature swings, and de-icing materials, such as salt or chemical compounds, makes winter conditions ideal for corrosion to take hold on a brake shoe. As rust builds up on the steel beneath the lining, it exerts upward pressure on the friction material, eventually causing cracks and breakage. 

According to Gary Ganaway, director of marketing and global customer solutions at Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake, rust jacking is not caused by the quality of the brake shoe coating alone. Although the brake shoe coating is extremely important, the right friction is also part of the rust jacking equation, and that’s often overlooked.

“Lower-cost friction materials tend to be manufactured with shorter fibers and have a lower flexural strength, making them more prone to delamination or becoming deformed under rust jacking pressure,” Ganaway says.

Maintaining good brake lining condition is crucial to both highway safety and regulatory compliance: Cracked or warped linings may not offer the stopping power necessary to comply with federal Reduced Stopping Distance regulations, and brake lining inspections are a key factor in Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scoring as well.

“The negative impacts of rust jacking are many, starting with time and expense,” Ganaway continued. “And since rust jacking affects two key brake components, it only makes sense to ensure that both of them offer a way to resist it.”

He notes that Bendix E-Coat² electro-deposition paint process is featured on all OE shoes and reman shoes equipped with OE friction. In addition, a new enamel coating is featured on reman brake shoes with both the Bendix Basic and Bendix Advanced friction lines.