Alcon Components Ltd, the Midlands, UK based acclaimed motorsport brake and clutch company, have launched brake upgrade kits for defence and security armoured variants of Ford’s F550 and Chevrolet’s Suburban HD. Offered to the global defence and security market, these kits allow OEM’s and vehicle modification companies to overcome the challenges faced when adding significant extra weight to the platform when up-armouring for military, security, VIP and head of state applications.
The newly launched brake kits both feature custom designed six piston iron calipers and larger discs on both front and rear axles. The performance benefits on offer to the customer include: up to 10% reduction in disc temperature rise; up to 25% reduction in front and rear brake pad work rates; up to 7% increase in available brake torque and up to 7% reduction in pedal effort. The kits are compatible with the stock OEM actuation so are easy to fit but they have also been fully “militarised” with the inclusion of: high-temperature seal material; wiper seals on every piston for dirt exclusion; pad push-back springs for optimum off-road wear resistance; acid zinc finish for maximum corrosion protection and inboard bleed screws to increase tamper-proofing. Fully tested, the kits allow the customer to run the modified Ford F550 at up to 11,000 kg and the Suburban at 6,500kg (Gross Vehicle Mass).
In addition to these new F550 and Suburban HD kits, Alcon already offer similar kits for Ford’s F150, Raptor and Ranger platforms and GM’s GMTK2 based platforms such as the Tahoe and Escalade. If a kit is not available “off the shelf” then Alcon are able to offer a bespoke brake kit design service that can deliver a similar offering for any platform of the customer’s choice.
Firmly established in the defence sector, Alcon braking solutions have already been sought out by some of the world’s finest Special Forces vehicle manufacturers. Amongst other key defence players, Supacat, the designers of the Jackal vehicle, BAe, Ricardo and Jankel have turned to Alcon to obtain bespoke, tailored braking systems that fully meet the demanding requirements of the challenging, high-performance, modern-day battlefield.
Jonathan Edwards, Sales Director at Alcon said: “defence, security and VIP vehicles rarely become less heavy once modified and our braking solutions solve the immediate problems that OEM’s and vehicle modification companies experience during the modification process”. He added: “our newly launched kits offer the defence and security sector off the shelf solutions that are fully compliant with the challenging requirements demanded by such specialist users. In doing so, our motorsport experience allows us to offer the very best performance and our automotive production experience allows us to deliver value for money to our customers”.