Dual-Dyno Brake Testing

So your car or truck needs brakes. Maybe just new pads or shoes. Maybe rotors, drums or more. Where do you go? Who do you trust? Your new car dealer may be a good choice, depending on your vehicle and past experience. Brake specialty shop? General mechanic? Corner gas station? Or maybe you do it yourself?

Seal of Approval
Any of the above, or some other alternative, might be best for you. We're not here to tell you where to go for brake work and replacement parts. We're here to tell you something important to look and ask for when you do, a very meaningful seal on the parts boxes: D3EA®.


D3EA®, which stands for "Dual Dynamometer Differential Effectiveness Analysis," means that those parts have passed a vehicle-specific test conducted by Greening Testing Laboratories in Detroit. Because this unique test is the only one that uses a dual-ended dynamometer to measure front and rear brake performance together, as a system, it's the only one that correlates very closely with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vehicle level tests. Other available procedures use a single-ended dynamometer to spin and test a single front or rear brake component or set.


This is important because brake systems are designed, developed and validated by vehicle manufacturers as systems, not as individual components or sets of components. To achieve optimum performance—and meet federal safety standards—the front-to-rear brake balance (how much work each system does relative to the other) must be precisely designed and tuned to each vehicle's front-to-rear weight distribution and weight transfer through a variety of braking conditions: routine and emergency, wet and dry, straight and turning, etc.

All Systems Go
When a new vehicle hits the road, the manufacturer certifies that the system, as a system, performs as designed and meets all safety standards. But once any component of that system is replaced, all bets are off. At best, you may get an incompatible set of front pads, for example, that create a lot of dust or noise over time. At worst, you may get a set that was not designed to operate with your original rotors, which could add substantially to your vehicle's stopping distance and put you and your family at risk. Replacing pads and rotors (or shoes and drums) together as sets improves the odds of that set being properly matched in design and materials, but still risks a mismatch in front-to-rear compatibility and balance. That is where Greening's D3EA® tests come in. A voluntary certification process based on FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards), D3EA® was created to test brake system balance, hydraulic displacement, heat build-up, structural integrity and overall effectiveness to assure that replacement parts perform to the same minimum level that OEM parts do. Each D3EA® test: