Celebrating 60 wonderful years!

Jost celebrated its 60th anniversary at the IAA – with a feast of product innovations and visits from existing and potential customers from across the globe. CHARLEEN CLARKE joined the festivities.

Some 60-year-olds start slowing down. Not Jost. The company’s stand was inundated with captains of industry throughout the show – even Matthias Wissmann, president of the VDA, and Klaus Bräunig, one of its managing directors, visited the bright orange and blue exhibit.

They weren’t the only two esteemed visitors; it seemed as though the United Nations was touring the Jost stand each day – keeping Jost’s international country representatives hopping (the company has branches on every continent). And there was certainly a lot for them to see – from new and proven fifth wheel couplings to telescopic landing gears, container locks, towing hitches, drawbars, rim bearings and trailer axle steering systems from the Jost, Rockinger and Tridec brands. Here is some insight into just a few of the highlights on the stand.

Lightweight aluminium landing gear
Jost launched the Modul CA aluminium telescopic landing gear, which will be available from the first quarter of 2013. Described as robust, it features a maintenance-free internal drive and has universal attachment options – thanks to the continuous back plate and a newly-developed weight-optimised A-foot. This semi-circular foot serves as a balance when the air diverts in standing air-sprung trailers. The A-foot has a roll distance of 160 mm.

LubeTronic 5Point prevents wear
LubeTronic 5Point is an integrated lubrication system for Jost fifth wheel couplings that provides grease not only to the lockjaw but also to the fifth wheel coupling plate. An electronic control device doses the grease precisely and at regular intervals. This saves grease and is environmentally friendly. An easy-to-read LED display shows the empty level of the grease reserves at all times.

Greater safety with sensor couplings
Improving safety is one of the central elements of Jost’s product development – and that’s precisely what the SKS sensor coupling system and the fully automated KKS coupling system achieve.

Ball bearing turntables
Jost’s success story began with ball bearing turntables in 1952 – and today, they are in use on every road in the world. The company showed a wide range of product improvements and innovations in this area at IAA 2012 – for example, from now on, all Jost ball bearing turntables for road traffic will be e-coated as standard, providing terrific protection against corrosion.

Perfect lubrication for all towing hitches
Rockinger displayed the LubeTronic AK, a lubrication system for towing hitches that reduces the required maintenance to an absolute minimum. Thanks to its built-in battery, the LubeTronic AK is fully self-sustaining (it doesn’t need power from the vehicle or other connections). Of course, this also makes it perfect for retrofitting.

New single wheel suspension for low loaders
The new Tridec jointed single wheel suspension for low loaders was also on display. It allows for higher workloads, greater installation space and improved driving characteristics. Thanks to its divided suspension, the Tridec DL-S (dual lever suspension) offers a reliable axle load of up to 12 tonnes per axle line. With an intrinsic weight of just 675 kg, it is also significantly lighter than comparable systems.