Accuride unveils Accu-Lite aluminum wheel line

May 1, 2011
ACCURIDE Corporation debuted its Accu-Lite lightweight aluminum wheel line, with the 22.5 8.25 aluminum Accu-Lite wheel weighing 45 pounds and the super

ACCURIDE Corporation debuted its Accu-Lite lightweight aluminum wheel line, with the 22.5 × 8.25 aluminum Accu-Lite wheel weighing 45 pounds and the super single Accu-Lite aluminum Duplex weighing 59 pounds.

“We are very pleased to introduce four aluminum wheels to our existing family of Accu-Lite steel wheels,” said Rick Schomer, Accuride's senior vice-president of marketing and sales. “We've actually reduced the weight of our aluminum Duplex wheel by 12 pounds and, with our new Ultra-Enhanced Finish, the wheel's gloss is measurably superior to other wheels.”

Accuride also announced that its Fabco division has released the new FSD-23 low-profile steerable drive axle family. The new line of Fabco axles offers customers a lighter weight and lower height solution for heavy-duty all wheel drive vehicles.

“Fabco's new low-profile 18,000-23,000-lb steerable drive axle will assist truck manufacturers in their efforts to maintain a low cab height in vehicles with larger engines which normally make installation of front drive axles more difficult,” said Al Sunderland, Fabco president. “The low-profile axle design utilizes a high torque capacity and compact single reduction differential assembly to reduce the axle profile compared to previous axles. Additionally, the optimized Fabco fabricated steel housing design can result in significant weight savings.

“Until now, all wheel drive vehicle builders often specified imported, planetary hub reduction axles to improve engine to axle clearance and minimize chassis height. Hub reduction axles have added cost, lead time and service complexity compared to a traditional center reduction drive steer axle. Using a North American built axle offers both the truck manufacture and end user benefits in delivery lead-time and after the sale serviceability.”

The Fabco FSD-23 is the fourth generation 18,000-23,000-lb product from Fabco, based on decades of severe service experience. It was developed for severe service applications such as military, oil field, construction, mining, wildland fire, and municipal utility. ♦

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