In February, Trax opened a new 100,000 square foot factory in Louisville, Kentucky – its first North American plant. It is here that all final axle assembly will take place, as well as brake shoe remanufacturing. Although axle components will be manufactured in Fuwa’s new Taishan Business Park, axles will be made to suit all North American standards by a team that is largely American.

Located an hour out of Hong Kong, the Taishan facility is nearing completion. It will be the largest axle manufacturing plant in the world and will help double Fuwa’s current manufacturing capacity. Fuwa has invested Euro 150 million in this new state-of-the-art facility that will feature 12 separate factories stretching for more than 1.5km and will include the most modern gear cutting equipment with lapping and grinding capabilities and the latest generation carburizing furnaces combined with the most up to date manufacturing and audit processes available. Currently, Fuwa manufactures between 500,000- 600,000 axles a year. The Taishan facility will allow the company to manufacture approximately 600,000 more axles per annum. It will be the launching pad to Fuwa’s move into truck systems including front steer axles, drive axles, drive suspensions as well as new semi trailer running gear products for the European and Australian markets.

Fuwa is already a dominant player in traileraxle manufacturing. In China, Fuwa already has a 70 percent market share of the trailer axle market and this recent expansion is set to make this share climb even further. As well as its position in China, Fuwa also has a strong market presence in Australia, South- east Asia, South America and South Africa. Approximately 30 percent of the total sales from Fuwa are currently derived from exports, however Fuwa hopes to increase the share of exports to over 50 percent to help further its position as a global player. Australia’s Fuwa K-Hitch has also been making a splash over the past few months. At this year’s International Truck, Trailer & Equipment Show in March, Fuwa K-Hitch showcased a wide range of new releases including heavy-duty 150mm unitised axles, pusher and tag axle suspension, KT250T suspension, and a new Weweller heavy-duty suspension. Fuwa K-Hitch has indicated that more new releases are set to follow in coming months for trailers and trucks, as well as the aftermarket.

Moore Trailers

Building predominantly bulk tippers, as well as it also builds a range of side tippers, skip tippers, convertible trailers, dog trailers, tag trailers, drop decks, fibre glass tankers, flat top trailers, rolling floor trailers, tilt trays, extendables and dollies, Moore Trailers has listened to farmers and operators over its 21 years of operation in order to design strong trailers that can stand up to the tough conditions present on Australian roads.

Moore Trailers has been relying on mechanical suspension from Fuwa K Hitch for the past seven years and its co-founder Shayne Moore is pleased with the product, “We offer mechanical suspension on all of our builds. I prefer mechanical suspension because it’s low maintenance, parts are readily available and it’s a lot more durable so can stand up to harsher conditions. In the seven years that we have been using mechanical suspension from K-Hitch, we’ve had virtually no faults whatsoever.”

Fuwa K-Hitch’s mechanical suspension is available in single, tandem and tri-axle versions and has a capacity of 11,500kg per axle. It is also available in underslung and overslung configurations and comes with a 1232mm, 1384mm and 1538mm axle spread, various mount heights, tapered rubber bushes to rockers and radius rods, and eight and nine spring packs, with three leaf parabolic optional. Fuwa K-Hitch’s cast mechanical suspensions are designed to be fitted to any Fuwa K-Hitch axle within its range, including both round and square beam configuration. The reinforced hanger design ensures the integrity of the suspension in both on and off-road environments, making it reliable and long lasting.

Shayne Moore adds, “In addition to a reliable product, K-Hitch provide us with service to match. They have good customer back up, are local, very price competitive and have all of the parts we need readily available.”

The heavy haulage industry relies on transport equipment that is reliable and can take some punishment in an occasionally unfriendly environment. Trailer manufacturers depend on their parts manufacturers providing products that are suited to heavy haulage trailers, not only in quality and performance, but also in their ability to cut maintenance time and costs.

Fuwa K-Hitch has been Lusty by Colron Industries’ main choice of axles, suspension and turntables for the past 2 years, and according to Managing Director John Lusty, it has been very rewarding for both companies.

“We have been using K-Hitch axles on our non-steer low loaders and have had no issues whatsoever. We’ve been working together with K-Hitch to get the right product match with the right low loader and in some cases we design a low loader around K-Hitch products.”

“The K-Hitch spring and airbag suspension is a good match on our standard tri axle deck widening low loaders which use a through beam chassis and allows us to get the deck height under a meter using the 19.5 inch axles.”

The K-Hitch unitised bearing axle, combined with the Colron nil grease suspension system is a match made in maintenance heaven, according to John. “Our nil grease hydraulic equalising suspension system uses sealed bushes that don’t require any greasing. Combined with the K-Hitch unitised bearing disc brake axles, it makes for a suspension and axle combination that is virtually maintenance free”.

Fuwa K-Hitch Queensland State Manager, Jayson Federico agrees, “Our unitised axles have been very popular over the past few years and have now been tried and proven to be very successful in keeping maintenance costs down along with time spent off the road.”

“The unitised axles work very well with Colron’s nil grease hydraulic suspension. It made sense to have an axle that could offer the same sort of advantages. We offer a 3 year 1 million kilometre warranty on our unitised bearing axles which can give the owner piece of mind in being sure the trailer will be out working instead of being worked on.”

All Colron Industries trailers come standard with K-Hitch turntables. The broad range of Fuwa K-Hitch turntables caters for Colron’s entire range of semi trailers and low loaders.

“At K-Hitch we have a wide range of turntables to suit a variety of applications and requirements. These vary from non adjustable and adjustable to greaseless and greasable, highway to heavy duty mining,” adds Jayson.

“We can supply turntables from 174 kN to a 300 kN double oscillating. We manufacture an extra wide turntable which is 100mm wider than a standard turntable, this helps provide extra stability by positioning the turntable pedestals further out over the chassis rails. This can be beneficial not only for low loaders but also for stock crates, side tippers and tankers. With so many different low loaders available in the Colron range, we’ve had the call to use several different models from our turntable arsenal over the years.”

“Fuwa K-Hitch is also able to provide Colron with other products to compliment its trailers, such as Argo Bogies and Rows of Eight axles. At Fuwa K-Hitch, we have our own engineering team in Australia and along with our engineering department and manufacturing plant in China, we can work in close with our customers on specific design needs and applications. Since the customers are dealing direct with the manufacturer we are able to provide products and solutions to the many varied applications and conditions found in our Australian market.”

The Weweler suspensions have been deliberately chosen to complement Fuwa’s current series of fabricated air suspensions, so as to provide Fuwa K Hitch and its customers with what it believes will be the most comprehensive range of air suspension products on the market.

“The Australian environment is unique and very demanding and as such, there is room for both types of suspensions in the market. We believe we now have the ability to work even closer with our customers, to develop specific solutions for every requirement and environment,” says Fuwa K Hitch National Sales Manager Chris Barrett.

“As I see it, why wouldn’t Fuwa K Hitch jump at the opportunity to join a world leader in trailer and truck suspension manufacturing? Weweler represents truly innovative and market-leading manufacturing of trailing spring and air suspension technology.

“I am very excited about exploring and making these suspensions and axles available to the market, as in most cases they have been specifically designed and manufactured in conjunction with a number of OEMs to complement their existing trailer and truck range,” adds Chris.

Fuwa K Hitch now has a complete series of 9, 11 and 13 tonne air suspensions to match one of the most extensive axle ranges in Australia – from standard tapered and parallel bearing drum brake configuration, right through to long life, low maintenance, unitised bearing technology designed for both disc and drum brake applications.

Features of the air suspensions include:

• single and twin parabolic spring leaves with thickness configured to spring rating
• alignment or non-alignment hanger facilities tapered at the top for greater flexibility in chassis and spring centre mounting
• air bag diameters to suit a variety of ratings and applications
• in-built stroke limitation negates the need for shock straps.

As well, suspension gusseting and bracing has been made easier and delivers greater strength by using the optional cast-mounting bracket fixed to the pivot bolt. This allows the gusset to be attached easily in the centre of the hanger where it is best placed to absorb flexing, while also facilitating clean and easy welding.

The Fuwa K Hitch family of 9 tonne suspensions ensures complete coverage for on-road general purpose trailers, tankers, tippers, refrigerated and stock trailers. Its 11 and 13 tonne models extend this protection to the toughest off-road Australian conditions as well.

Long-term line-up

In the coming months, Fuwa K Hitch will also be unveiling a completely new generation of axles, to follow on the trail of its recently released extreme-duty
off-road axle. This axle has been designed to suit Australian conditions, with a 150 mm square forged one-piece beam combined with a 12 tonne rated unitised
or cartridge bearing.

Other models to come on-line in the not too distant future include a new on-highway unitised bearing range that boasts a reduced tare weight advantage over the current unitised range, while still offering the popular FKH/SKF 1 million kilometre/three year guarantee, as well as a new European range of axles in various configurations, including the 146 mm round beam. The cream on top will be
the release of the truly innovative Weweler MBS suspension in late 2009 and
early 2010.

“There is a great amount happening at Fuwa K Hitch at the moment. This really is only the tip of the iceberg in what is going to be a very big 18–24 months in our company’s future,” Chris says.