Continental leading the way with the development of specialised air springs for extreme temperatures

Technology company Continental is once again leading the way in the automotive industry by taking an important step in the direction of an industry standard with its HiTemp air springs, which can easily withstand temperatures between -40 and +100 degrees Celsius.

The project is being implemented in close collaboration with a market-leading shock absorber manufacturer and will see a well-known Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer equip as standard all of its truck drivers’ cabs with sleeve air springs.

Truck drivers often cover vast distances, with the vehicles frequently experiencing a wide range of different regions and climate zones over their service life. To ensure that the driver’s cab is kept safe and comfortable in the summer heat of the Middle East and North Africa, Continental has developed the HiTemp solution, which performs reliably even under extreme temperatures.

The air springs meet the increasing demands on truck components: the stricter exhaust-gas standards heat up the engine compartment to a much greater extent, ensuring extremely hot operating conditions. The advantage of the sleeve air springs is that they allow for easier heat management and offer the manufacturer greater flexibility when defining the installation space of the cab mount. There is no need for a heat shield to protect the air springs against intense heat radiation. This makes the spring function significantly cheaper than previous solutions – reduced idle time and lower repair costs are further advantages.

The development of this technology marks an important milestone on the way to establishing the HiTemp sleeve air spring as the standard in the commercial vehicle industry. The sleeve air springs for extreme temperatures not only ensure significant improvements in use at high temperatures, but also increase the permissible range at minus temperatures. In addition, the sleeve can withstand an extreme long-term stress.