Land transport
Custom seals for buses, lorries and emergency vehicles
A bus door seal must provide a watertight, airtight and soundproof seal for fifteen to twenty years of service, and remain available as a spare part long after the model has been discontinued. BORFLEX® designs and manufactures these custom elastomeric seals for all land vehicles: buses, coaches, lorries, premium cars, agricultural machinery and defence vehicles.
Our extruded and co-extruded profiles are suitable for both small and medium-volume production runs, offering the same process capability as new parts, from prototypes to spare parts.
Water, air and sound insulation: co-extrusion managed from start to finish
A vehicle seal must fulfil three functions simultaneously: keeping out water, keeping out air and absorbing noise. BORFLEX® manufactures these extruded and co-extruded seals from design through to production, using materials selected to match the vehicle’s intended service life.
We also supply flame-retardant, self-extinguishing and halogen-free elastomers that comply with the most stringent requirements regarding fire behaviour and smoke toxicity.
- Bi-material seal with steel reinforcement or metal insert
- Anti-stretch threads integrated into the profile
- Application of a slippery coating or flock finish to areas subject to friction
- Semi-rigid or flexible PVC, cellular rubber, TPE, polyurethane
- Inserting fabric or stiffening material; applying adhesive
Clip-on profiles, tube connectors, glazing profiles: the land transport catalogue
Each vehicle function corresponds to a profile family. The table below summarises the main families manufactured by BORFLEX® for doors, boot lids, bonnets and glazing.
BORFLEX® profile families for land vehicles and their main function
| Profile family | Role fulfilled | Assembly |
|---|---|---|
| Snap-on profiles (Snappon) | Tube seals for doors and bonnets, lip seals, edge protectors | Clamping onto a parallel rebate |
| Glazing profiles | Seals for fixed or movable windows, wiper strips, window trims | Pasting, clipping |
| Corner and adaptable profiles | Moulded through-and-through wedge, injection-moulded wedge, self-adhesive finish | Moulding, hot-melt bonding |
| Door and boot seals | Sealing of the door panel, removable locking lip for the boot | Cutting and pasting |
Your vehicles, our sealing solutions
Vehicle type and key sealing considerations
| Vehicle type | Key priority | BORFLEX® solution |
|---|---|---|
| City buses and coaches | Door seals, acoustic comfort, halogen-free lighting | Co-extruded door seal, hook-type lip profile |
| Premium cars and spare parts | Appearance, fit and finish, durability of spare parts | Glazing profiles, moulded corner seals, flock coating and varnish |
| Lorries and commercial vehicles | Mechanical strength, boot and bonnet seals | Clip-on profiles, reinforced pipe joints |
| Agricultural vehicles | Dust- and water-resistant, suitable for outdoor use | Dual-material profiles with reinforcement |
| Defence vehicles | Extreme conditions, ballistic protection, radiation protection | Specialised elastomer compounds, reinforced seals |
Examples of documents
Pipe and cable crossing ramp: CROCODILE by BORFLEX®
Beam, walkway and crossing ramp for fire hoses or cables: CROCODILE® protects the ground surface and enables vehicles to pass safely. Foldable and lightweight to carry, it can be set up in a matter of seconds and is easily visible thanks to its reflective strips.
- Extremely robust and durable
- Enables vehicles to pass through safely
- Side flaps that prevent the parts from coming apart once assembled
- Two parts held together by a stainless steel cable, which retains its flexibility even on uneven surfaces
CROCODILE by BORFLEX® access ramp, foldable and installed without tools.
Special vehicles in focus: classic, military, emergency and fire service vehicles
Some vehicle fleets fall outside the scope of the conventional automotive sector. Three types of vehicle are most commonly encountered amongst our road transport clients: classic cars in need of restoration, military vehicles requiring protection, and emergency vehicles that must be kept on constant standby.
Classic cars and restoration
A model that has long since gone out of production has seals that are no longer mass-produced by the original manufacturer. Our small-batch production facility enables us to reproduce an identical profile based on a drawing, a worn sample or a reverse-engineered part.
- Reproduction of a profile from a submitted part
- A standardised elastomer formulation that can be consistently reproduced over time
- Small quantities, with no minimum batch size imposed by a conventional automotive production line
Military and light armoured vehicles
On a defence vehicle, the seal complements the armour rather than working against it. BORFLEX designs elastomer compounds capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and pressures, offering ballistic and radiation protection in accordance with the specifications.
- Sealing against liquids, gases, noise and external contaminants
- Elastomer blends that remain stable under extreme conditions
Emergency and fire-fighting vehicles
An emergency vehicle must be available at all times: the key consideration is not the volume of production but reliability under intensive use and the speed with which a specific part can be sourced. This is the natural domain of our small-batch production organisation, the same one that supplies spare parts for classic cars.
- Small-batch production and made-to-order items to specification
- Halogen-free, flame-retardant and self-extinguishing elastomers
- Fleet tracking over several years without changing suppliers