When it comes to comfort and safety, electric park brakes offer several crucial advantages over conventional hand brakes with cable actuation. Removal of the handbrake lever additionally creates space and design freedom in the centre console. The increasing use in heavy vehicles such as SUVs means that the safety requirements for these systems are also increasing. TRW takes this into account with continuous further development, for example through improved gear concepts of the actuators. Copies often appear on the market, though, and they cannot always be distinguished at first glance. It is not always ensured, however, that these copies can withstand the required loads as well as original TRW quality parts.
How-to-guide
Optimum braking force under all conditions, hill-start assist or the emergency braking functions which can provide controlled braking of the vehicle with the EPB – these are only some of the advantages distinguishing an electric park brake from conventional hand brakes. This, however, requires all materials and components of the EPB to withstand the highest loads. To ensure this, the electric park brakes are checked and tested with great precision. Special test benches are used, for example, to test the clamping forces that the brake calipers have to withstand.
There are also other ways of identifying whether what you are holding is an original part. On the example of a brake caliper with part number BHN357E, we show you the differences between a genuine electric park brake from TRW and a counterfeit part.
Logo and markings
Fig. 1 Logo and markings on the original TRW brake caliper.
Fig. 2 Logo and markings are missing on the counterfeit part.
Seal
Fig. 3 On the original part, the piston seal around the piston is inserted evenly and neatly all around. The brake piston has optimum protection against moisture and dirt.
Fig. 4 On the counterfeit part, the seal is not inserted correctly. This allows moisture and dirt to enter which can damage the brake piston.
Red clip
Fig. 5 This red clip indicates that the part is an original TRW replacement part.
Fig. 6 The counterfeit part has no clip.
QR codes and bar codes
Fig. 7 The original TRW spare part features QR codes or bar codes, as shown on the actuator here. These codes can be used to identify each component and trace its origin. This ensures that only high quality components with tested quality are installed in TRW products.
Fig. 8 The counterfeit part has no codes for tracing the individual components. This makes it impossible to determine the origin. Furthermore, there is no protective cap on the plug-in socket for the electric park brake. These contacts could oxidise which can decrease conductivity.
Only a look into the inside of an actuator can reveal the difference: planetary gear on the left, harmonic drive gear on the right.
Even if the actuators look the same from outside, the insides may differ. The latest generation of electric park brakes from TRW are equipped with actuators with high quality planetary gears. On larger and heavier vehicles, this ensures that the gear can produce the required clamping force to securely hold the vehicle even on a hill. On counterfeit parts, it is not obvious whether these also contain a planetary gear. They might contain the cheaper version – a harmonic drive gear. This type of gear can only produce lower clamping forces due to its design. Comparative tests have furthermore shown that the counterfeit parts did not achieve the clamping forces required by the vehicle manufacturer.
Nice-to-know
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