The 115 axle development programme extends our range to meet the needs of customers looking for true off-highway performance from lightweight or compact vehicles.

The 115 series has been designed as a family of rigid axles, offering the option of mechanical, hydrostatic, or electric drive inputs.

Each unit’s compact central gear case incorporates constant mesh gears, which provide a choice of 14:1 or 18:1 reduction ratios. These are extended by the integrated hydrostatic or electric input options to provide ratios as deep as 30:1- in order to cope with true off-highway use.

"Such figures are beyond the scope of most units derived from commercial vehicle axles, and contribute to the 115’s ability’s to accommodate loads far higher than other axles of comparable size," comments off-highway Sales Manager Jamie Pratt.

Their capability is underlined by the use of inboard oil immersed brakes; which provide excellent breaking performance even at maximum axle loading. This feature also contributes to the compact size of the hubs, which in turn, allow the small wheel diameters required by low ground clearance articulated loaders or mining vehicles," he adds.

Versatility is a further feature of the new 115 series axles, with the input drive options making the range an ideal choice for applications ranging from aircraft ground support equipment and site vehicles to electric tow trucks and utility vehicles. In addition, the units’ modular construction reflects our adoption of latest Kanban and cell manufacturing methods.

"Our drive towards leaner manufacturing and the ability to achieve rapid production changeovers provide wide ranging benefits, including the opportunity to produce smaller batch sizes more economically," comments Technical Director, Clive Rayner.

"As a result, we can offer customers the best of all worlds. For example, we can provide a wide range of product variants based on proven derivatives of the same basic design. Secondly, close control of production costs and higher commonality of parts mean we can offer shorter lead times and extremely attractive prices, even on small order quantities." All 115 series axles will be available with flange-to-flange track widths down to 700 mm as standard, along with a variety of mounting options to meet the widest spread of vehicle applications.

Mechanically driven units provide a 2,000 kg rating and nominal output torque of 3390 Nm at each wheel. They also feature a variety of wheel mounting options and hydraulic service brakes. Optional cable operated parking brakes are also available to customer order. These capabilities are mirrored by equivalent hydrostatic drive variants, while the electrically-driven 115 EB offers up to 3,000 kg axle rating and a 1,000 Nm output torque.  Prototypes of the new range will be available for pilot installation later in the year, with production commencing early in 2003.