Identifying Brake Chambers: Complete, Piggyback, Service Chamber & More

Having trouble identifying which Brake Chamber you may require? In today's blog, we will be reviewing the different types of brake chambers, how to identify different brake chamber parts, and key identifiers to determine which brake chamber your vehicle requires.

Complete Type 30/30 Brake Chamber Assembly

A 30/30 Brake Chamber, also known as an 8 inch brake chamber, is the most common of brake chambers. The top of the chamber is the service side, which will activate when the tractor brake pedal is stepped on. The spring brake chamber or emergency brake chamber, is charged to release the spring brakes. This holds the brakes. To determine you have the correct chamber, you will want to measure the diameter across the clamp and ensure it is 8 inches. 

Another thing to measure to ensure you have the proper fit, would be the distance between the center holes. However, the bolt holes should be the same all the way down to Type 6.

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Is your brake chamber a long stroke or regular stroke?

To determine this whether you need a long stroke brake chamber or regular brake chamber, look to the holes where the brake hose will fit to screw onto the chamber.

If the connection port is round, this will be a short or regular stroke chamber.

If you see there is a square, rather than a round connection, you will require a long stroke brake chamber.

Service Chambers

A service chamber is essentially the top half of the complete chamber we just reviewed, except, it has a back cover on. Considered for truck and trailer, a lot of the time you can find these on steer axles. Depending on the width of your bolts and the room that you have for your steer axle, you may find you need to move to a smaller chamber like a Type 6. The center to center measurements will remain the same, however, it has a smaller body chamber and can save the space near the steer axle.

You can determine which service chamber you require by measuring the top the same way we did with the complete sets.

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Piggyback Kits

The emergency side/bottom side of the complete. Chamber, new diaphragm, new clamp ring. On the 30/30, you may remove the clamp from the service chamber, however, you can no longer remove the clamp. There is a spring inside the chamber set at 1800 PSI.

If you need to replace the piggy back of your complete set, you would remove the top clamp and attach your new kit. NEVER touch the clamp on the bottom of the chamber, if there is one.

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Air Disc Brake Chamber

Unlike the other chambers that are bolted on to a bracket on the axle with a push rod, an air disc brake chamber will sit horizontally on the bottom side of your truck or trailer. There is a small push rod that will go into the caliper slides.  

While installing the chamber, ensure you’re holding the chamber horizontally while you tighten the two mounting nuts.

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Tailgate Cylinder 

Similar to the 8 in service brake chamber, the tailgate cylinder has a heavy duty pull back spring. It’s air one way, and has a heavy duty spring. When the dump or tailgate latches, as you release the latch, the spring will pull the latches tight.