Many of the world’s top commercial vehicle component makers like Arvin Meritor, Ford, Schmitz Cargobull and DANA choose Thompson machines for friction welding truck axles.

The latest generation of Thompson machines offer a number of market-leading capabilities that make them ideal for friction welding beam, banjo, trailer and drive axles. New features include environment-friendly, low energy and quiet-running drives and a new linear track system for a more streamlined operation of the weld head unit.

An optional electronic-based positioning system is also available for accurate alignment and orientation of components during the welding process.

Typical examples include axle tubes, where the pre-machined and forged asymmetric flanges need to be in precise orientation, or trailer axles, including dropped centre and self-steering types, where forged steering knuckle ends must be in correct angular orientation with each other and the dropped centre.

In addition, it is ideal for trailer and truck axles where the brake spiders have to be angularly aligned for the use of disc brakes.