Can anybody tell me what "ISO" stands for when it comes to working with brakes? thanx. Any help is most appreciated.

 

International Organization for Standardization.

Had to do a search. You piqued my curiosity.

http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueL...799&scopelist=

 

thanx man. I couldnt find that

 

As a guy currently employed by the automotive industry, I can give you some history on ISO. This organization is intented to standardize quality management systems -- basically the systems/processes in place in companies which assure quality & safety expectations are met. The history of quality management systems goes back to the old Brittish Standards Institute requirements for suppliers of the Nautilus submarine program. Suppliers found that different customers had different requirements for testing/validating/verifying various actions, methods, and quality levels. Basically one set of requirements were needed to commonize all customers expectations. Otherwise, a supplier could spend a lot of time & money complying with a bunch of customers' different requirements. That is where the International Organization of Standardization was developed. A bunch of ISO standards exist, but the most common are ISO9001 -- manufacturing & design, ISO9002 -- same as ISO9001 but no design, ISO14001 -- environmental management. The American automotive industry (Big Three) took the ISO standards & added their own particulars, creating the QS9000 standard. The QS9000 standard has since been re-written, creating the TS16949 standard.

The intent of these standards was to create one single set of requirements anyone could meet, thereby satisfying a bunch of different customers. What has actually happened is most customers have taking the base requirements & added their own specifics, creating an entire industry unto itself. Auditors, registrars, and documentation people all working to meet everyone's requirements. Good idea, but it has gotten carried away in the last 5 years. Oh, it has also become a marketing tool which is why companies hang flags & post this all over their trucks.