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Making Hydraulic Hose
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By Counterman
KYB said it has developed an environmentally friendly hydraulic fluid for shock absorbers.
The newly developed SustainaLubeliminates the environmental risks associated with petroleum, according to KYB. The
Full release to the market is planned for 2026.
The new fluid contributes to carbon neutrality by switching from petroleum-derived base oil to naturally derived base oil. It absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere during cultivation of the plants used for the base-oil raw materials, also reducing CO2 emissions during transportation, according to KYB.
SustainaLub is biodegradable up to 60% or more according to the Eco Mark certification standard (OECD301). The base-oil and additive formulation is recyclable, reducing environmental issues in the long term, KYB noted.
“As a specialized global manufacturer of hydraulic equipment, KYB has long been involved in maintaining and improving the safety and comfort of automobiles,” the company said in a news release. “Using that experience, we are striving to achieve environmental balance without compromising performance or reliability. Not only does SustainaLub improve maneuverability and stability by applying it to the various damping force valves that we already offer, but it also improves the feel of the product by applying friction-control technology, for example KYB Prosmooth shock absorbers.”
Replacing petroleum-based oil in KYB shock absorbers with this new hydraulic fluid will save up to 15.6 million liters of oil per year, according to KYB.
Tested in Japan
All new KYB products undergo reliability evaluation at the KYB Development Center in Japan.
“Thorough performance and quality evaluation involves both bench tests and actual vehicle testing on our state-of-the-art test track,” KYB said. “This in-house design of a hydraulic oil recipe is unique to a manufacturer specializing in shock absorbers.”
The KYB team participating in the All Japan Rally Championship JN-2 class introduced SustainaLub to their vehicles from Round 6 onwards They analyzed and verified the performance and durability in the harsh race environment, KYB noted.
In addition, SustainaLub was trialed in the vehicle used in the Lexus ROV (Recreational off-Highway Vehicle) Concept customer-experience program. It was used for Lexus’s first ROV equipped with a hydrogen engine. The data accumulated also contributes to technology development for future practical applications, and work toward the realization of a carbon-neutral society.
“KYB plans to ultimately apply the technology to all hydraulic products involved in realizing a sustainable mobility society,” the company said. “As a specialized manufacturer of hydraulic equipment, KYB has long been working to improve the ride comfort and handling stability of automobiles. Based on this experience, KYB will continue to pursue advances in performance and reliability while keeping environmental impact at the forefront of development.”
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By Counterman
If a customer mentions that they’re seeing fluid trickling from a suspension bushing, their eyes aren’t playing tricks on them. That bushing could be hydraulic.
Hydraulic suspension bushings were developed in response to customer demands for smoother, quieter and better-handling vehicles. To achieve this, sophisticated suspension components are needed. Modern suspension systems look a lot different than they used to, with multiple links used to maintain suspension geometry.
A non-hydraulic suspension bushing typically will feature a number of empty voids inside them. These voids are a product of clever engineering, and they allow for deflection/compression in a specific direction when placed under load. Hydraulic bushings fill those empty voids with a fluid. This fluid works like a hydraulic damper, while still allowing for deflection/compression when under load.
The word “hydraulic” might imply that hydraulic fluid or oil is used inside these bushings, but they typically use a glycol mixture instead. Oil or hydraulic fluid would break down the rubber inside the bushing and cause it to fail prematurely. If you’ve ever seen a radiator hose that got coated in engine oil, you know what we’re talking about.
These bushings are engineered with a certain tire and wheel combination in mind. This means increasing the tire and/or wheel sizes can throw this off, and the suspension may need to be repaired more frequently.
Hydraulic bushings are able to isolate noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) from entering the vehicle cabin more effectively than standard bushings. Hydraulic bushings can be firmer without compromising passenger comfort, leading to crisp steering response and road feel. They will deflect less under load, such as braking or hard cornering, and this means better vehicle stability.
But, all bushings eventually will wear out and need to be replaced. Hydraulic bushings may crack, rip or tear, just the same as non-hydraulic bushings will. The big giveaway is the hydraulic fluid leaking from the bushing.
Failing hydraulic bushings typically exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:
Clunking or knocking noises while braking or turning Evidence of fluid leaks coming from the bushings Unwanted suspension movement Tire wear (from excessive suspension movement) Increased NVH transferring into the vehicle cabin Replacement Tips
Hydraulic bushings likely will be more expensive to replace than standard bushings. Here are a few tips and tricks to share with your customers.
Let’s start with the most important tip: Always check the OE service information. Even if your customer has performed this type of repair in the past, it’s still a good idea to check the service information to see if anything has been updated recently. They should road-test the vehicle before and after the repair.
If your customer is pressing a hydraulic bushing into or out of a suspension arm, they should be careful not to apply force directly against the rubber part of the bushing. Doing this will most likely rupture the rubber bushing, causing the hydraulic fluid to spill all over the floor. Once this happens, the bushing is ruined and must be replaced. Be sure to only apply force against the outer race or sleeve.
Modern bushings likely will feature some sort of locating mark, notch or indicator. Reference the OE service information to learn how to correctly align the bushing to the suspension arm. Doing this will allow the suspension to articulate properly. Failure to do this may cause the suspension to bind up during movement, and/or cause the bushing to wear out or fail prematurely.
It’s strongly recommended to wait to torque the fasteners down to specification until the suspension has been set to normal ride height. If the fasteners are tightened down with the vehicle in the air, the bushing will be forced to twist when the vehicle is lowered onto the ground. This means that the bushing will always be twisting at normal ride height, and this will surely lead to premature wear, tearing and/or failure.
Finally, your customer should perform a four-wheel alignment if the service information calls for it. Some suspension components may not require an alignment after service; it depends on the make, model and application.
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By Counterman
These days, many will tell you that the tuneup is dead – a vestige of a bygone era. But I say the answer is far more subjective.
It’s true: People rarely ask for a tuneup. Once the “king” of automotive service, the process of regular adjustments to the carburetor or fuel system – as well as the ignition system – has all but fallen by the wayside. It’s all handled now by a computer. The best part is these computers, known to us as engine or powertrain control modules, do a really great job at it.
The worst part is they do such a good job of adjusting things and keeping cars running seemingly flawlessly that many people overlook the basic maintenance that’s still required. What this means is the tuneup is far from dead. It’s more important than ever, and in many aspects the same as it always was.
The Way it Was
There are many reasons a tuneup was so popular back in the day. Fuel systems (namely carburetors) were inefficient and required occasional adjustment. Spark plugs wore out quickly, often needing cleaning, gap adjustment or replacement. Points wore in pre-electronic ignition systems, requiring a regular dwell adjustment and frequent replacement. Distributor caps, rotors and wires needed frequent replacement to keep ignition systems in top condition.
All of these factors and more contributed to very noticeable drivability issues on older cars, prompting owners to get a tuneup.
Common replacement items also included air and fuel filters, crankcase ventilation filters and positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valves, not to mention additional services such as a valve adjustment or belt adjustment. So, how does all this stack up to today’s vehicles?
Spark Plugs
There’s no comparison between the plugs of yesterday and today. Modern spark plugs simply work better and last a long time, often as long as 100,000 miles. But here’s the catch: They still wear out. As they wear, the computer continuously adjusts fuel mixture and timing to maintain optimum combustion. The engine runs perfectly the whole time, but behind the scenes, more energy is required to jump the gap of the plug.
This adds additional load to the coils, eventually causing premature coil failure. Then there’s the potential of trouble removing a plug that’s been stuck in the cylinder head for many years. Ignoring spark plugs can be a costly mistake.
It all seems great at first, and plugs definitely don’t need replaced as often as they did in the old days. But, many manufacturers are slimming down the replacement intervals. For me, I’d rather spend a little extra and replace those plugs before the target mileage.
Coils and Boots
Most modern ignition systems are a coil-on-plug system. They generally work or they don’t, meaning replacing them isn’t going to improve performance. But they don’t last forever. If one has gone bad, the others won’t be far behind. And the boots between the coils and plugs? They’re equivalent to a plug wire – just shorter – and they wear out just the same. In most cases, you can’t see them. They’re hidden from view in the middle of the valve cover.
Quite often, the spark-plug-well seals go bad, leaking oil onto the coil boots and destroying them. This is all the more reason for regular inspection, and a reason to replace valve-cover gaskets when replacing plugs, coils and boots. Valve-cover gaskets were never considered part of a tuneup. They can be now.
Tuneups = Maintenance
Air filters are only new for a second before they start to get dirty. Less air to an engine means less performance. The computer again adjusts the fuel mixture to compensate.
Neglected fuel filters can overwork the fuel pump and cause it to fail prematurely.
The mass airflow (MAF) sensor sends critical data to the computer for engine operation. Cleaning them can improve performance and prevent drivability issues.
It’s amazing how dirty throttle bodies get.
Oh, and PCV valves? They’re still on a lot of cars.
Even electric vehicles will require a tuneup of sorts. Battery-management systems (BMS) have an algorithm that can cause the indicated range to be less than it actually is, depending on people’s driving and charging habits. Recalibrating the state of charge will prompt the BMS to recalculate and restore the lost range.
The bottom line: Maintenance. That’s all a tuneup was and what it still is. And maintenance never goes out of style.
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By Counterman
While the premise of a vehicle with no steering wheel and no human driver is not something the motoring public is quite ready for, the case for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
is strong.
In October, automaker Ford posted a third-quarter loss of $827 million, and said it was largely due to its self-driving tech partner Argo AI going under. That same month, J.D. Power and Associates released a study that showed consumer understanding of automated vehicles is rife with misinformation.
On paper, one can make a pretty practical case for autonomous driving – the most obvious benefit being that it could potentially increase road safety and eliminate traffic deaths. Additional justification lies in the ability to reduce collision insurance claims and increase independence for certain populations who are currently limited in their options for safe and reliable transportation – such as the elderly and disabled.
However, as real-world testing begins, the technology is encountering some pretty significant roadbumps, and consumer understanding of the technology isn’t belying the confidence to make the mass adoption of fully automated vehicles a realistic possibility any time soon.
The recent J.D. Power study found 65% of consumers surveyed were unable to accurately define fully automated, self-driving vehicles. Plus, 56% of respondents incorrectly classified the driver-assist technologies available today as fully automated, self-driving technologies. The survey hints that consumers are lagging in understanding as well as preparation for higher levels of automation.
The current system for classifying levels of automated driving was established by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Ranging from 0-5, the SAE levels run the gamut from Level 0 where the driver is fully responsible for the vehicle’s operation and supervision of the technology on the car at all times, to Level 5, which gives complete control of the vehicle to the operating system itself and requires no human supervision at all. At this time, there are no Level 3-5 autonomous vehicles on the road today, according to J.D. Power.
Today, the most widely used safety technology on vehicles on roads today would be considered Level 2 – which would include such things as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) – automatic emergency braking (AEB), and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), lane assist, parking assist, driver drowsiness detection, gaze detection, etc. These technologies provide partial automation by taking over control in specific situations – such as turning a corner too fast, or coming to close to a vehicle in front of you. In 2008, ESC systems became mandated by NHTSA on all new vehicles by 2011. All automakers are currently participating in a voluntary commitment to make AEB standard on all vehicles as well.
In a recent webinar hosted by Reason Foundation, Brookings Institution and Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering, several experts on AVs shared their thoughts on the subject, hoping to correct some of the common misconceptions and inject a dose of realism into the public debates surrounding autonomous vehicle technology. One of the three speakers, Alan Kornhauser, professor, Operations Research and Financial Engineering, and faculty chair of Autonomous Vehicle Engineering at Princeton University, said he believes ADAS should be mandated.
“ADAS is focused purely on safety,” said Kornhauser. “It’s on all the time, and it overrides drivers only to avoid getting into a crash situation. We’ve had a number of these systems in our vehicles for a long time. As long as we’re not using the brakes inappropriately, they just work the way we want. Otherwise, the system takes over and doesn’t allow you to lock your wheels. Same thing with electronic stability control. You can go around corners just fine. You go around too fast, all of a sudden, the system takes over and makes sure that you don’t lose your rear end. And maybe one of the most successful of these systems is reverse automated braking systems so that if you back up and there happens to be a child behind your car, the car stops.
“This has enormous implication on insurance because in fact, if there is no crash, then there’s no insurance that needs to be paid out. There’s no lawyer, there’s no ambulance, there’s no medical payments that have to be paid,” Kornhauser added.
When it comes to seeing federal or state regulations that could pave the way for more fully autonomous (i.e., driverless) cars on the road, Marc Scribner, senior transportation policy analyst at Reason Foundation, believes we aren’t quite there yet. Having consistent, published technical standards may be one of the bigger roadblocks, he said.
“Automated vehicle regulation is not going to occur in the near term,” said Scribner. “I think the delay is, in part, due to the lack of published voluntary consensus standards that may be ripe for regulatory incorporation. But, there also seems to be generally, at least so far [in] this administration, perhaps less enthusiasm for automated driving systems than the previous two administrations. But, I do think the lack of published technical standards that could be incorporated into regulation is a hurdle. Where federal regulators are silent, states may act instead. States and locals have primary authority over vehicle operations and infrastructure management. They own the roads; they manage the roads. They license drivers, they register vehicles. All of that kind of thing goes in with the vehicles actually out there in the real world,” said Scribner.
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