Step up a gear and steet in a greener direction

TRW Aftermarket has extended its first to market, boxed steering gear aftermarket programme which is taken to market under its heavy commercial vehicle brand, TRW Proequip.

Consisting of two recirculated ball type gears for HCV power steering systems: the original TRW advanced steering type gear (TRW TAS) and the next generation TRW high pressure type gear (TRW THP), the programme now totals 57 references, and caters for the following vehicle manufacturers: DAF, SCANIA, VOLVO, DENNIS and SISU.

Following a stringent returns process, TRW Proequip steering gears are remanufactured and tested to the same standard as new OE product, using TRW’s own OE components at its leading centre of excellence in Frydlant, CZ.

In line with its focus on instant access to greener and cleaner parts, the business discusses the many benefits of remanufacturing, the importance of fitting OE quality parts which work in harmony with each other, within the system, and how digital access to parts is an essential part of the modern business model.

Remanufacturing is an area of production TRW has long championed and for good reason. Studies by the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, demonstrated that:

  • The yearly energy savings by remanufacturing worldwide equals the electricity generated by five nuclear power plants or 10,774,000 barrels of crude oil which corresponds to a fleet of 233 oil tankers
  • The yearly raw materials saved by remanufacturing worldwide would fill 155,000 railroad cars forming a train 1,100 miles long (i).

In line with this, under the TRW Proequip brand, the business now also remanufactures used OE quality THYSSEN KRUPP steering gears for Mercedes Benz applications. Plans are also in place to remanufacture gears for other suppliers.

The business designs and develops a wide range of OE technologies for the majority of vehicle manufacturers and thus understands how each component within a system can affect the others. In line with this, for maximum benefit and performance, all parts are developed to work in harmony.

"By directly transferring its OE skills and experience into its aftermarket offer, we understand how changing a component in one system can have a knock on effect on others," explained Dennis Christ, HCV Channel Marketing Manager, TRW Aftermarket.

He continued: "For example, changing a HCV steering gear could have an effect on the suspension, braking and transmission systems and so for the highest levels of safety and performance parts should be manufactured to OE specification."

"Fitting non-genuine parts can lead to issues of balance, wear and driver response. Fitting inferior or copied parts can result in increased fuel consumption because the system is not as originally designed, and can also lead to premature wear and therefore failure of other components in the system."

The business also advocates that the market should have easy and instant access to both its product catalogues and to technical information in order to work with them. Research shows that the majority of HCV part searches are conducted online and furthermore, that searching on mobile devices dominated truck search activity. In line with this, both TRW Proequip’s product catalogue technical information via its free technical resource, Tech Corner, are both available on line by going to: www.trwaftermarket.com.