Application:
Automotive Shock Absorbers
Challenge: Tenneco is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of ride control products for
the automotive original equipment and aftermarket. Tenneco is constantly searching for new ways to
better serve their customers and to deliver consistent high quality at a fair price. One of those
challenges came from a leading manufacturer of high end sport/luxury vehicles. This new product
demanded an unusually high level of accuracy not seen before in OEM products. Tenneco has used
Haven Manufacturing’s equipment since the late 1970s with consistent and excellent results, so the
decision to solicit Haven’s advice on this new project was an obvious one. The application called
for a single end finishing machine, machining an I.D. and O.D. chamfer, end face, and I.D. or O.D.
reduction, all in one cycle. This seemingly straight forward task was anything but ordinary, given
the extremely tight tolerance and repeatability requirements.
Solution: Working with Tenneco plant personnel, Haven Manufacturing designed a custom built
“Single End Tube Finishing Machine.” Tenneco believed that the Haven design would give them better
control for the “neck down” chamfering and finishing process during the manufacture of the outer
housing of the shock absorber and to help assure that the housing remained within tolerance. The
design included a precision servo ball screw feed control, with a program to control the chip load
and chip breakup. In addition to standard I.D./O.D. and end facing, this machine also has the
capacity to counter bore or reduce the tube O.D. To center the tube accurately, a precision
Microcentric collet was used. The machine is all electric, controlled with an Allen-Bradley
CompactLogix processor and Panelview Plus operator interface.
Results: Haven provided Tenneco the accuracy and reliability needed to meet their customer’s
extremely rigid requirements. Haven proved once again that its ability to design and manufacture
application specific machines provides its customers the depth and breadth needed to solve almost
any tube related challenge.
Line of Business
Automotive Ride Control
Target Markets
Shock Absorbers and other precision end finishing applications
Haven Products in Use
Special Single End Finishing Machine