18 GEARS May/June 2007

IIn 1890, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach began the first successful auto manufac-

turing company — the Daimler Motor Company.

Just 12 years after those first cars rolled out into the consumer market — in 1902 — the A.H. Raymond Company opened its doors in Bridgeport, Connecticut, manufacturing brake lin-ings and clutch facings. They created the first non-charring, asbestos-and-copper wire brake lining, offered under the trade name “Raybestos®.” It was the first of many innovations that would display the Raybestos name in the next 100+ years.

Today, the Raytech Corporation employs about 1,400 people in 8 loca-tions around the world: 6 in the US, one in Germany and one in China. It’s among the largest dry and wet clutch manufacturers in the world, and has expanded from clutches and brakes into filters, solenoids and more. Not bad for a tiny, 4-person company that got its start in a little corner of Connecticut just over a hundred years ago.

Over 100 Years ofFriction Products

Raybestos was the first independent

manufacturer of automatic transmis-sions clutches in the world. “Raybestos is a friction material manufacturer; that’s what we do,” says Al Avila, gen-eral manager of Raybestos Powertrain. “Whether it’s the friction material on a clutch, torque converter piston, or band, when we’re talking tribology — the study of friction — that’s Raybestos.

“We have hundreds of different formulas in Raybestos’ library of fric-tion material. A tremendous amount of research and development goes into for-mulating each unique material, depend-ing on the properties required for each individual application.”

How do the engineers at Raybestos identify the friction requirements for a specific transmission? Chris Horbach, Raybestos Powertrain’s chief applica-tion engineer and tech support supervi-sor, explains: “In today’s competitive environment, the process begins with thermoelastic modeling. Usually, we already have the dimensions and piston geometry, as well as other important data. We plug those numbers into our modeling software, which can simulate the vehicle under a variety of differ-ent operating conditions. The program indicates areas of high temperature concentration, high stress, and so on,

allowing us to make changes to our friction choices, and even make design change suggestions to the manufacturer to improve clutch performance and durability.

“Even if they have a good working system, the software allows us to simu-late different friction combinations to find something better. Once the simu-lations are complete, we may use the results to select a new friction material and thickness to create a sample clutch pack for dynamometer testing. By the time we install a clutch pack in vehicles for evaluation, we know we have a winner.”

An Aftermarket SupplierOf course, Raybestos’ work for

the OEMs is only the first step in their ongoing quest for newer, better friction materials. From there, Raybestos’ engi-neers use similar evaluation techniques to address clutch performance issues for the aftermarket.

How does Raybestos determine friction requirements for transmissions where they don’t supply the clutches to the OEMs? In that case, Raybestos reverse-engineers the unit, by analyzing the factory clutches and their operation-al requirements, such as vehicle weight,

RaybestosRaybestos® Begins Its Begins Its 2nd Century of Innovation

by Steve Bodofsky

18raybestos.indd 1818raybestos.indd 18 4/19/07 3:03:40 PM4/19/07 3:03:40 PM

GEARS May/June 2007 19

Raybestos® Begins Its 2nd Century of Innovation

applied horsepower, clutch dimensions and so on.

“Our tech center can analyze the OE materials and determine the com-position of the facings, so we can pro-vide a comparable replacement clutch,” says Chris. “Once we have that, we put it into test vehicles, to make sure it performs as well or better than the OE product.”

Tech Advisory PanelHow does Raybestos identify the

issues that are important to the indus-try? They go right to the source: the technicians in the field.

“We’ve met with technicians for years, to keep on top of the problems they face,” explains Frank Slocum, vice president of sales and marketing for Raybestos Powertrain. “About six years ago we formed a technical advi-sory panel, including shop owners and technicians from all across the country who have a sincere interest in improv-ing the Raybestos line. We meet once or twice a year, and discuss the trends and conditions they find important.”

“The panel was created for one pur-pose,” agrees Al. “To provide us with feedback on our products, from people who know this business. Sometimes that feedback is positive; other times it’s not. Sometimes their feedback is totally different than we expected.”

The advisory panel will typically meet for about two days, during which time Raybestos will share the most intimate details of its operations. And the panel will provide feedback on a wide range of issues, even marketing and advertising.

“The information the advisory panel provides is invaluable to us,” says Al. “Without them, many of our decisions would be nothing more than a guess.”

Raybestos SolutionsThe concept of Raybestos Solutions

has been simple: To identify problems in today’s transmissions, and find solu-tions to correct them. In some cases, the solution might be simply to replace the clutch lining with something more durable. In others, it requires complete-ly redesigning the clutch assembly.

Raybestos Solutions was the brain-child of Al Avila, who came from the repair side of the industry. “As I began to get involved with the process for creating an OE product, I learned that many things impact the selection pro-cess. The clutch that gets approved isn’t always the best one for the application.

“So I thought: What if we could focus on the best clutch for that applica-tion? It would be a great opportunity to provide a real solution for shops. I start-ed looking at all the solutions our engi-

neers had developed that never made it to the street and asked, ‘Why can’t we offer them to the aftermarket?’”

An early example of a product that never made it off the shelf for OE was Raybestos’ SW Carbon™ clutch material. According to Raybestos, SW Carbon is the only material available

that’s comparable to GM’s ECCC torque lining. Other manufacturers offer products that are similar in design, but the SW Carbon is the only material that offers comparable performance to the OE material, because it’s a true car-bon material, not a carbon impregnated paper. However, SW Carbon wasn’t being offered to OE or the aftermarket.

Raybestos found that torque con-verter rebuilders didn’t have a replace-ment material for the aftermarket, so they provided the SW Carbon clutch solution. With that, Raybestos Solutions was born.

“Raybestos Solutions set us apart from other clutch manufacturers,” explains Al. “But more importantly, it provided effective, well-engineered solutions to real problems facing the transmission repair industry. The SW Carbon and the Z Pak™ are good examples of this.”

Of course, everyone knows Raybestos as a clutch manufacturer;

Frank Slocum

Chris Horback

Irvin Gers

Nancy Irvin Kim Stevens Group Meeting

Al Avila

20 GEARSMay/June2007

Raybestos® Begins Its 2nd Century of Innovation

however, Raybestos Solutions goes beyond clutches, including products such as a Chrysler speed sensor, which corrects repeat failures that are common with the OE sensors. They’re currently working on a new pressure control sole-noid, designed to offer smoother, more precise control of system pressures.

“People ask us, ‘Why are you making these components? They’re not clutches,’ and the answer is simple: They need to be made. It’s a prob-lem that needs a solution. That’s what Raybestos Solutions is all about,” said Frank.

The Z Pak™ - It’s Revolutionary

The Z Pak could probably be considered the flagship product of Raybestos Solutions. A revolutionary clutch replacement kit, designed by Dr. Przemyslaw Zagrodzki, also known as Dr. Z — from whom it takes its name — the Z Pak improves heat dissipation, holding capacity and durability.

Every transmission professional knows that heat is one of the biggest dangers to the automatic transmission. There are only two ways to dissipate heat from a clutch: through the oil or the steel plates.

On a two-sided friction plate, the friction material actually insulates against heat transfer to the clutch core,

meaning only the steel plates carry away heat. In a single-sided clutch, every plate has a steel side to help transfer heat away from the clutch. The added heat capacity greatly improves clutch durability.

Single-sided clutches have a down-side: Because of their heat transfer abilities, one side of the clutch will be cooler than the other. This can cause the clutch to distort or “cup.” That in itself isn’t a problem; what is a problem is that the amount of cupping varies, depending on the clutch’s position in the clutch pack. This variation reduces contact area, which in turn reduces holding capacity and increases stress and heat within the pack.

The next objective of the Z Pak was to improve the contact area and increase holding capacity, not by elimi-nating the cupping, but rather to take advantage of the laws of physics by designing clutches that would all cup at the same rate. This allowed Raybestos engineers to take advantage of the addi-tional heat transfer of the single-sided clutch, while providing the holding capacity necessary to maintain durabil-ity. The result is a super clutch, with superior heat transfer, increased hold-ing capacity and enhanced durability.

“What makes the Z Pak unique isn’t that it’s a great clutch,” explains Al. “The industry expects great clutches from Raybestos. What makes the Z Pak unique is that we’ve gone a step further, creating a completely new design to replace the OE clutch, making it better than the original.”

“So many technicians were having trouble with the 4L60/4L60E 3rd clutch,” says Frank. “They’d take it apart, put it back together in factory con-dition and send it down the road, only to have it come back again and again.” Raybestos examined and analyzed the assembly, and designed a Z Pak kit to address its inherent problems.

“We have all sorts of tes-timonials telling us how suc-cessfully we solved the prob-lems,” says Frank. “When we ask about their comeback rates with the Z Pak installed, they laugh and say ‘I don’t

have them anymore!’”

Racing Clutches vs High Performance

The BlueP l a t e Special® was introduced in 1985, primarily for drag rac-ing. More recently, the Blue Plate Special evolved into the gen2™ Blue Plate Special®, which is better suited for all types of racing.

What many people don’t realize is that, while the Blue Plate Special is unparalleled in its performance on the track, it really isn’t a heavy-duty clutch. In fact, if used on the road, Blue Plate performance is likely to be disappointing — not because it isn’t a great clutch, but because it was never designed for that type of use.

That’s why Raybestos designed the Stage-1 clutch. Stage-1 is a drop-in replacement that provides a greater coefficient of friction and increased long-term durability. It’s a robust, high performance clutch designed to work under high torque conditions.

“The Blue Plates are designed for high speed, high energy use. Think of it like a thoroughbred,” explains Frank. “He’s bred to run, not pull a wagon. It’s an entirely different set of demands. If you tow your car to the track on a trailer, Blue Plates are the racing clutch you’re looking for. If you drive it to the track, you want Stage-1’s.

“There’s a huge sector of the motor-ing public that wants to put larger tires on their cars, install a more radical cam-shaft or turbocharge it — maybe just up the compression or install headers. They’re running 5%… 10%… maybe even 25% more power. They need something to handle that extra power and still be street ready. That’s what

GEARS May/June 2007 21

the Stage-1 was designed for.” When thinking Blue Plates, think ENERGY!

T h e m o r e e n e r g y — or

horsepow-er — the

better Blue Plates perform.

They’re for the serious racer.

Made in the USAThere can be little doubt that

we operate in a global economy, and Raybestos is no exception. They have factories in Germany and China, as well as those in the United States, and they’re constantly looking for new markets all around the world. However, most of the production from those fac-tories provide product for the countries where they’re located. Nearly all of the parts Raybestos sells in America are made right here in the USA.

“We’re very proud that Raybestos products are primarily made in the US,” says Al. “Our electrical components, wet friction products, and steel plates are manufactured here. We have stra-tegic partners who manufacture their products here, as well.”

“We display ‘Made in the USA’ proudly, because we want our custom-ers to know that Raybestos is commit-ted to manufacturing here, and employ-ing US workers. We consider the US aftermarket to be our primary market; even though our international market continues to grow, we’re proud to call ourselves ‘Made in the USA.’”

It’s not just an American-pride issue, although there’s no doubt it’s a powerful motivation. It’s about product consistency; good enough just isn’t good enough for Raybestos. And the only way they’ve been able to assure consistent quality in their products has been to control their manufacturing. That means keeping the business right here in the US, where they can monitor every step in the process.

But it really doesn’t matter wheth-er it’s a “Made in America”-pride issue or quality-pride issue; either way, you win, because the folks at Raybestos take great pride in the quality of their American-designed and built products.

Raybestos and ATRA: A Winning Combination

Raybestos has been a visible sup-porter of ATRA for years. The Raybestos Kickoff Luncheon at ATRA’s annual expo has become a staple since its inception, over 14 years ago. They make a point of setting up displays at a number of ATRA seminars every year.

“We’re strong supporters of the independent rebuilder,” says Frank. “We see ATRA as a valuable connec-tion with the independent transmission shop. By supporting ATRA, we can do our part to help support this industry. It gives us a way of showing our appre-ciation to our customers.”

The folks at Raybestos are quick to acknowledge the importance of the training and information that ATRA provides. In fact, they’re troubled by how few technicians take advantage of it: “Less than 10% of the working technicians attend this training,” says Frank. “That has us concerned, because we believe the only way to remain profitable in today’s market is through continued education.

“We’re constantly exploring ideas to attract new technicians to these class-es,” he said. “We believe that’s a critical step in keeping our industry strong.”

Got a Problem? Call Raybestos!

If you have a problem with any Raybestos parts, they want to hear from you. You can call them, toll-free, at 1-800-729-7763. During regular busi-ness hours, M-F 8AM - 5PM EST.

This number doesn’t ring through to a voicemail system or answering machine; the phone is answered by a real person, who’ll forward you to the right person to address your specific concerns.

“If there’s a problem with one of our products, we want to know about it so we can correct it,” explains Chris. “Whether it’s a product concern, or an idea to improve a design, we want to hear from you.”

Al was quick to agree: “The rela-tionship we have with our customers is one of our most valuable assets. It allows us to be more responsive to their concerns. We like to think we’re more approachable than most manufacturers. We have a tremendous respect for the people in this industry, and are happy to work with them and take care of any problems, whatever they may be.”

For over 100 years, Raybestos has been at the forefront of clutch and brake technology. It’s been a long and sometimes bumpy road to get where they are today. After a hundred years on the road, some might be content to sit back and enjoy the ride. Not Raybestos: They’re driving with a purpose — one that’s sure to lead the field as they begin their second century of innovation.

Raybestos Lab