A year ago, we described the term "application specific" as the buzzword of the aftermarket brake business. It was, and still is an important issue, brought about by the end of the "one friction material fits all" concept and awareness of how brakes perform in different vehicle designs, plus advances in testing methods.
While application specific formulations are still a hot topic, noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) seem to have moved to the head of the issues line. Shim material topics were paramount on the agenda at the 1999 APRA Brake Clinic held in Los Angeles, CA, recently, and friction suppliers are introducing new low-metallic formulas this year aimed specifically at the NVH problem.
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