Heavy Trucking Industry
Custom molded and extruded rubber and plastic parts for heavy trucking applications – built to your print, or designed with you.
Rubber and plastic applications in heavy trucking
COi Rubber manufactures custom molded and extruded rubber and plastic parts for heavy trucks and commercial vehicles. Buyers come to us for boots, bellows, seals, isolators and hose that tolerate ozone, oil, heat and years of flexing – built to your print, or designed with you from the requirement up.
Below are common rubber and plastic applications our customers source in this industry, and the materials we mold for them. These are engineering considerations, not guarantees of suitability – final selection depends on your drawing, operating environment and testing. Send a drawing or a sample part and we will match the compound, durometer and process to the application.
Applications:
- Boots and bellows (rubber) – protect joints, shafts and linkages from dirt, water and road salt; fabric reinforcement helps them hold shape under pressure and motion.
- Cab and body seals (rubber) – door, window and compartment seals that keep weather and road wash out of the cab and body.
- Vibration isolators and mounts (rubber or rubber-metal assemblies) – isolate cabs, engines and equipment from chassis vibration and shock.
- Air and fluid hose (rubber) – extruded hose for air, coolant and auxiliary systems; compound follows the media and temperature.
- Gaskets and flange seals (rubber) – seal housings, covers and flanges against oil and coolant.
- Grommets and harness protection (rubber) – protect wiring harnesses where they pass through the cab and chassis.
- Plastic guards, covers and trim (plastic) – molded plastic components for protection, weight and cosmetics.
Materials:
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Have a question? Use our contact form to receive information regarding your inquiry. You may also give us a call at (626) 965-9966.
Materials and your RFQ
Truck parts live with ozone, oil, heat and constant flexing. EPDM and silicone serve weather and heat, polychloroprene (CR) serves oil exposure, and natural rubber and SBR suit abrasion and cost-driven parts. FKM serves fuel and oil contact. Fabric reinforcement is designed in where boots and hose must hold shape.
When you request a part, tell us the temperature range, media or chemical exposure, and expected service life, and include the drawing or a sample part. We match the compound and durometer to that.
Design considerations for heavy trucking parts
The right compound depends on the conditions the part will live in. The points below shape material and geometry choices for heavy trucking applications:
- Weather and road wash. Cab and body seals keep weather and road wash out of the cab and compartments; profile, compression and compound follow the exposure.
- Flex and motion. Boots and bellows flex constantly over millions of cycles; fabric reinforcement is designed in where they must hold shape under pressure and motion.
- Fluid and media. Air, coolant, oil and fuel each rule compounds in or out – tell us what the hose or seal will carry and at what temperature.
- Vibration and shock. Cab, engine and equipment isolators trade damping against stability; they are sized from the load and the frequencies involved.
- Heat. Engine-bay temperatures narrow the compound list; silicone and EPDM cover heat and weather, FKM covers fuel and oil with heat.
- Abrasion and duty cycle. Parts live with years of road duty, grit and vibration; compound and wall thickness follow the wear the part will see.
These are engineering considerations to review together at the quoting stage, not guarantees of suitability for a specific application.
Molding and extrusion for heavy trucking
We match the process to the part and the volume:
- Rubber molding – compression, transfer and injection molding for boots, bellows, seals, grommets and mounts, from prototype quantities through production runs.
- Plastic molding and extrusion – injection-molded guards, covers and trim, plus extruded hose and profiles where the cross-section is constant.
- Bonded assemblies – rubber bonded to metal or plastic inserts where the part must seal and fasten in one piece.
Send a drawing or a sample part and we will recommend the process, tooling approach and compound together.
From prototype to production
Every new part goes through first article inspection or a Level 1 PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) before production – Level 3 for automotive, Level 4 for higher-requirement projects. We provide material certifications verified in our own lab against your material requirements, plus a dimensional layout, a bubble blueprint and a signed first article form. Level 3 goes into full industry-standard PPAP documentation depth: design records, process flow, PFMEA, control plan, MSA, capability studies (CPK) and the Part Submission Warrant (PSW). Higher-requirement projects can run customer-defined Level 4 submissions where specified. Our manufacturing facility is IATF 16949 certified, with APQP and 5-Why and fishbone root-cause analysis built into our quality process. Once a part is approved, we hold the compound, durometer and tooling consistent so reorders match the approved part.
What to include in your RFQ
A complete RFQ gets a faster, more accurate quote. Include what you can from this list:
- Drawing or sample part (2D or 3D files welcome)
- Prototype and annual quantities
- Operating environment: temperature range, media exposure, flex duty
- Any required standard or rating (for example a flammability rating)
- Tolerance and fit requirements, including mating surfaces
- Target timeline for samples and production
Send these to sales@coirubber.com and we will respond with material and process recommendations.