The march goes on for Dana Off-Highway: New underground mining axles, next generation transmission controls continue new product debuts

The Off-Highway Systems operation of Dana Corp. has continued its new product march, as it unveiled a new axle range for underground mining equipment and significantly expanded its electronic transmission control product line.

Dana, which celebrated its 100th year in 2004, has recently beam introducing new products with the frequency of a startup company rather than one of the industry's oldest supplier heavyweights. In mid-2004, it unveiled new ranges of electronically controlled powershift transmissions, expanded its powershuttle transmission line, made two additions to its Hercules axle range and introduced new generation Spicer Life series driveshafts (see September 2004, Diesel Progress North America, Edition).

Now come the 54R300 and 58R397 axles, which are designed to expand the existing line of Spicer 53R300 and 53R312 axles for the underground mining market. The new axle series, the first of which was released in the fourth quarter of 2004, was developed to accommodate the trend toward larger load-haul-dump (LHD) and underground mining truck designs and offer more robust features and increased longevity, the company said.

"Dana has more than 40 years of proven experience in the design and development of axle and transmission systems for the underground mining market," said Bob Brazeau, chief engineer. Spicer Off-Highway Products. "This experience enables us to continually engineer products that meet our customers' changing needs, including the underground mining market's demand for larger vehicles with more durable products. The new 54R300 and 58R397 axles were designed with these demands in mind, and were engineered to deliver the quality and reliability for which Dana's Spicer products are know The new 58R397 axle is engineered to accommodate 20- to 25-ton LHDs and 55- to 60-ton mining trucks. It features a specially designed planetary drive to accommodate larger- and higher-capacity: axle shafts and provide improved longevity. The 58R397 axle's carrier assembly has a robust Posi-Torq II differential with 22.8 in. (58 cm) spiral bevel gearing to handle higher input power. The new differential also features a larger, multiple-plate wet clutch that is actuated by wedge ramps to facilitate smooth, quiet operation with a 45% locking capacity Dana said.

A number of components from the existing wheel end of the Spicer 531K312 axle have also been incorporated into the design of the new 58R397, including the 26100 liquid-cooled brake. In early 2006, the 581K397 axle will also be available with a larger Posi-Stop brake, providing a torque capacity rating at 1 million lb./in, per wheel.

"It will truly target the very high end of the market -20-ton loaders and 55-ton trucks," said Brazeau. "Before, we had been serving that segment with our 53R and another product, the 25D, but there was a big gap in capacity between those products. So this 58R fills our product gap and matches what's happening in the marketplace because the applications are just more demanding now. The mines are using the equipment tougher and longer and harder and the 58R gives us a new product that'll meet those newer criteria in the marketplace."

The 54R300 axle is designed for the demanding duty/cycles of 50- to 55-ton underground mining trucks. It features a high-capacity differential and carrier assembly with a 54 cm diameter ring-and-pinion design to provide improved durability and longevity, the company said. The new pinion shaft features an upgraded bearing design that works to increase bearing life during a vehicle's on-grade powered ascent and its retardation upon descent. Its new heavy-duty carrier is also interchangeable with those of the existing Spicer 53R300 and 53R312 axles.

"The 54R is primarily targeted at trucks," Brazeau said. "The differential carrier assembly is an improved design for the truck application and it features a deeper reduction planetary so it's taking some of the load off of the carrier assembly. We've made some other improvements in the center section--better bearing, new gear processes to improve the gear life. Again, like the 58R it's really keeping pace with the changes in the marketplace. As the expectations on lift go up and the number of hours they're getting per year continues to increase, we're working to keep pace with our products."

Also targeted toward mining and general construction equipment applications is a new generation of Spicer transmission controls designed to be compatible with CAN-bus community-carious protocols.

The new Spicer ECon essential controller and Spicer PCon powertrain controller are compatible with all Dana Corp. transmission designs that include an electric control valve. Specific functionality provided by the controllers includes automatic shifting, system monitoring, data logging, safety shift inhibits, diagnostics and single-pedal drive.