If you spent years doing brake and clutch work, on cars, trucks, fleets, or in your own garage, and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, the brake parts you handled are very likely part of the story. For most of the twentieth century, brake linings, brake shoes, disc pads, and clutch facings were made with asbestos, and three of the big names behind them, Abex, Wagner, and Ferodo, are now covered by the Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust.
The dust the products created was the danger. Every brake job released asbestos into the air, and blowing out a brake drum with compressed air sent up a visible cloud of it. Mechanics breathed that dust day in and day out, often for a whole career, and the people who did the work rarely knew the wear debris they were cleaning out was asbestos.
There's good news in how this particular trust is set up: the part that pays Abex and Wagner brake claims, the FMP subfund, is the healthiest part of the Federal-Mogul trust, and it recently raised what it pays. You don't need old records or the brand off the box. Reconstructing which brake products your work history reaches is our job.
You don't need the product names or old records. No fee unless we recover compensation for your family.
Key facts
Abex & Wagner Brakes (Federal-Mogul FMP Subfund)
- Bankruptcy → trust
- 2001 → 2007 (FMP subfund opened 2018)
- Trust funding
- Federal-Mogul trust-wide: about $635 million
- Mesothelioma scheduled value
- $100,000
- Mesothelioma maximum value
- $300,000
- Current payment percentage
- 12.2%
- Mesothelioma payment at that percentage
- about $12,200 – $36,600
Ferodo Brakes (Federal-Mogul T&N Subfund)
- Bankruptcy → trust
- 2001 → 2007
- Trust funding
- Federal-Mogul trust-wide: about $635 million
- Mesothelioma scheduled value
- $50,000
- Mesothelioma maximum value
- $150,000
- Current payment percentage
- 2.9% (T&N subfund; reduced from 3.9%, June 30, 2026) from the trust’s notice of June 30, 2026
- Mesothelioma payment at that percentage
- about $1,450 – $4,350
Payment percentages and values current as of October 2026. Trusts change their percentages; we update them when the trust's notice arrives. Download the data
Quick answers
| Did brake work really expose me to asbestos? | Almost certainly, if you did it before the 1980s. Brake linings, shoes, pads, and clutches were asbestos, and grinding them to fit and blowing out brake drums with compressed air put heavy dust in the air. The dust reached helpers and others in the shop, too. |
|---|---|
| Whose brakes were they, Abex, Wagner, or Ferodo? | You don't have to know. Abex and Wagner pay from one part of the Federal-Mogul trust, Ferodo from another, and many mechanics handled more than one. We trace the brands from your work history. |
| How much can the trust pay? | It depends on the brand and the diagnosis. The Abex and Wagner side pays higher values at a percentage the trust recently raised; the Ferodo side is lower. Either way, it's usually one of several brake claims that add up. |
| My brake work was in the 1980s or '90s. Do I still qualify? | For this trust, the exposure has to fall before the end of 1982, even though asbestos brakes were sold later. If your brake work came after that, the recovery is more likely through lawsuits, and we'll tell you straight. |
| They say chrysotile brakes don't cause mesothelioma. Is that true? | No. Chrysotile is a recognized cause of mesothelioma, and brake work releases it into the air. That industry argument is contested by the established science, and we put that science on. |
| Do I have to file a lawsuit? | For the Abex, Wagner, and Ferodo trust claims, no, those are paper claims. Brake exposure after 1982, or against other still-solvent brake makers, may call for a lawsuit, which we also handle. |
| Can a spouse or adult child file for the worker? | Yes. Many of our first calls come from a wife or an adult child looking into this for someone who's sick or has passed. You don't need a power of attorney to ask questions. |
“I started this firm after learning that the cancers that killed my father and grandparents were caused by asbestos, something we did not realize until it was too late to hold anyone accountable. That experience is why we built this site: so that no other family misses their chance to ask the questions, hear the options, and decide for themselves what to do.”
What the trust pays for brake claims
Brake claims fall into two different parts of the Federal-Mogul trust, and they pay differently, so the first step is knowing which brand your exposure runs through:
- Abex and Wagner brake work pays from the FMP subfund — higher values, and a payment percentage the trust recently raised.
- Ferodo brake work pays from the T&N subfund — lower values and a lower percentage.
Many mechanics handled more than one of these brands over a career, which can mean a claim in each. Here's what each pays.
Abex and Wagner brakes (FMP subfund). Mesothelioma sits at the top of this schedule (Level VIII): a scheduled value of $100,000, and up to $300,000 through Individual Review.
| Disease level | Scheduled value | Average value | Maximum value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesothelioma (Level VIII) | $100,000 | $125,000 | $300,000 |
| Lung cancer 1 (Level VII) | $21,250 | $30,000 | $62,500 |
| Lung cancer 2 (Level VI) | — | $6,000 | $20,000 |
| Other cancer (Level V) | $7,375 | $9,750 | $45,000 |
| Severe asbestosis (Level IV) | $21,250 | $27,250 | $62,500 |
| Asbestosis / pleural disease (Level III) | $4,000 | $4,250 | $7,000 |
| Asbestosis / pleural disease (Level II) | $2,000 | $2,100 | $2,500 |
| Other asbestos disease (Level I) | $50 | — | — |
Ferodo brakes (T&N subfund). The Ferodo schedule is lower, and so is its payment percentage.
| Disease level | Scheduled value | Average value | Maximum value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesothelioma (Level VIII) | $50,000 | $62,500 | $150,000 |
| Lung cancer 1 (Level VII) | $10,625 | $15,000 | $31,250 |
| Lung cancer 2 (Level VI) | — | $3,000 | $10,000 |
| Other cancer (Level V) | $3,700 | $4,900 | $22,500 |
| Severe asbestosis (Level IV) | $10,625 | $13,625 | $31,250 |
| Asbestosis / pleural disease (Level III) | $3,175 | $3,375 | $6,250 |
| Asbestosis / pleural disease (Level II) | $1,425 | $1,450 | $2,000 |
| Other asbestos disease (Level I) | $50 | — | — |
Because the gap between scheduled and maximum values is wide, we always do a thorough exposure-history investigation to determine whether filing Individual Review is warranted. These are the set values before each subfund's payment percentage is applied, covered next.
How asbestos brakes exposed mechanics
Brakes work by friction, and for most of the twentieth century the material that made the friction was asbestos. Brake linings, brake shoes, disc pads, brake blocks, and clutch facings were all built with it, because asbestos took the heat without burning. Abex made brake linings, shoes, and blocks for cars, trucks, railroads, and industry; Wagner made automotive brake parts; and Ferodo made brake linings, disc pads, and clutch facings. The asbestos in these friction products was chrysotile, often at high concentrations.
The exposure came from the everyday work of a brake job:
- Blowing out brake drums. The single dustiest task in the trade. Pulling a wheel and blasting the accumulated brake dust out of the drum with compressed air sent a visible cloud of asbestos wear debris into the mechanic's breathing zone.
- Grinding and arcing linings to fit. New linings were ground, beveled, sanded, and arced to match the drum, and drilled for rivets, each step throwing off fiber.
- Removing worn linings and clutches. Taking off worn, heat-baked linings and clutch facings released the dust they'd shed in service.
- Breathing the shop air, and carrying it home. The dust hung in the shop for everyone to breathe, and it rode home on coveralls to the families who shook them out and laundered them.
This reached anyone who turned a wrench on brakes: auto and truck mechanics, brake and clutch specialists, fleet and dealership shops, gas-station mechanics, parts rebuilders, military and railroad vehicle mechanics, and the weekend do-it-yourselfer doing his own brake jobs in the driveway. The air-measurement figures for brake work live on the brake product page that owns them.
The Federal-Mogul bankruptcy, and where brake claims fit
Federal-Mogul was an American auto-parts company that grew by acquisition, and the asbestos liabilities it took on, from the British giant Turner & Newall and from the brake and gasket makers it absorbed, eventually overwhelmed it. In October 2001 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the 2007 reorganization created the Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust under Section 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code, the law that routes a company's asbestos claims, present and future, into a trust that takes over the liability. The full mechanics of the trust, including its four subfunds, are on our Federal-Mogul and Turner & Newall hub page.
For brake claims, two parts of that trust matter:
- The FMP subfund pays Abex and Wagner brake claims. It's funded largely through insurance, and notably it didn't open until September 2018, after a long fight over who would pay Wagner's claims, so it's a relatively young, actively paying part of the trust.
- The T&N subfund pays Ferodo brake claims, alongside Turner & Newall's insulation and Flexitallic's gaskets.
The operating Federal-Mogul auto-parts business survived the bankruptcy and continues today under later ownership, asbestos-free and unconnected to the old liability. The claims here concern the asbestos brakes these companies made decades ago, and they're paid by the trust.
What the trust pays for brakes, and the payment percentages
Each subfund offers two filing tracks. Expedited Review pays the fixed scheduled value for your disease level if your claim fits the preset criteria; Individual Review weighs your specific case and can pay up to the higher maximum. Whichever track, the subfund pays a percentage of the claim's value, and this is where the two brake channels differ most.
Abex and Wagner (FMP subfund): currently 12.2%, recently raised. This is the healthiest part of the Federal-Mogul trust. The FMP subfund increased its payment percentage to 12.2%, up from 6.9%, and made supplemental payments to claimants who had been paid at the older, lower rate, the kind of move a trust makes when its funding is keeping pace. So a mesothelioma claim paid at the scheduled value works out to about $12,200 through Expedited Review, with Individual Review reaching toward $36,600 at the maximum, and the schedule itself is adjusted upward for inflation each year.
Ferodo (T&N subfund): currently 2.9%. Ferodo claims are paid from the T&N subfund, which has a lower percentage than the FMP subfund. That makes a Ferodo claim a smaller figure, and a reason to make sure every other claim in the case is found and filed.
Every asbestos trust pays a percentage so a limited fund lasts across decades for the people not yet diagnosed. We work from whatever each subfund is paying when your claim is filed, and confirm it against the trust's current notices.
Is the trust still able to pay?
Yes, and the brake side is in good shape. Here's the picture from the most recent annual report.
- About $440 million across the whole trust. At the end of 2025 the Federal-Mogul trust held roughly $440 million in net assets available to pay claims, and that balance rose over the year.
- The Abex/Wagner subfund is young and paying. Since it opened in 2018, the FMP subfund has paid about $66 million to claimants, including roughly $8 million in 2025, and it raised its payment percentage rather than cutting it.
- Ferodo claims are part of a much larger paying subfund. The T&N subfund, which pays Ferodo claims, has paid more than $570 million over its life.
No trust's money is unlimited, and the payment percentages are how the trust keeps its promise to the people who haven't been diagnosed yet. But the Federal-Mogul trust is open, funded, and paying right now.
Federal-Mogul trust annual reports
Abex, Wagner, and Ferodo claims are paid by the Federal-Mogul trust, which files one annual report for all its subfunds.
2025 annual report filed April 28, 2026
Federal-Mogul ended 2025 with $440.2 million in net assets available for claims, an increase of $13.1 million. Investment appreciation of $33.8 million, alternative-investment gains of $7.8 million, and interest and dividends of $9.5 million generated $51.1 million in additions despite no insurance recoveries. Personal injury claims expense fell to $27.9 million from $53.9 million. Operating expenses were $5.4 million and claims-processing fees and consulting $4.8 million. Stronger investment results and lower claims expense reversed the prior year's decline, although net operating cash outflow remained $27.0 million.
T&N received 58,479 unliquidated claims and reported payments on 36,366 claims totaling approximately $20.48 million during the year. FMP received 6,439 unliquidated claims and reported approximately $8.4 million paid. The T&N figures cover the entire subfund, including its Turner & Newall, Ferodo, and Flexitallic claim streams; they should not be attributed to any one stream.
Latest notice: T&N Payment Percentage Notice — 2.9%, June 30, 2026. All of the trust’s notices
Who qualifies for a brake trust claim
A claim rests on two things: a qualifying asbestos diagnosis, and documented exposure to an Abex, Wagner, or Ferodo asbestos product during the period the trust covers.
The exposure has to fall before the end of 1982. This is the one to watch on brakes. Asbestos brake products were sold well into the 1990s, but the Federal-Mogul trust pays only on exposure before December 31, 1982. If your brake career ran earlier, the date is rarely a problem. If your brake work came mostly in the 1980s and '90s, you may not have a trust claim here, but you may well have a lawsuit against a still-solvent brake maker, and we'll tell you which path fits. We explain both in our guide to how asbestos trust claims work and our asbestos lawsuit page.
For mesothelioma, you don't need heavy exposure. Mesothelioma can come from brief, limited exposure, and the trust recognizes that, so a meso claim isn't held to the higher-dose threshold the other disease levels carry. Those levels ask for about six months of Federal-Mogul exposure plus longer cumulative asbestos work.
You don't need to have known the brand. Credible evidence of brake exposure, from your account, a coworker's, or a family member's, supported by whatever records exist, is what the claim needs. Few mechanics tracked which company made the linings they ground decades ago, and the claim doesn't depend on it.
Family members can qualify too. If a mechanic brought brake dust home, a spouse who laundered the coveralls or a child in the household may file on the same exposure history.
A brake case is rarely a single claim
For a mechanic's exposure history, this is the part that changes the math.
A mechanic didn't use one company's brakes for a career. The shop stocked whatever came in, so over the years a mechanic ground and blew out linings from many makers, not just Abex, Wagner, and Ferodo. A great many of those brake and friction makers left their own asbestos trusts, and others are still in business and can be sued directly. The same diagnosis and exposure history that support a Federal-Mogul brake claim usually support a stack of others, and because each is resolved on its own, they add up rather than compete.
Two things make a brake case especially layered. Within the Federal-Mogul trust itself, a mechanic who handled Abex, Wagner, and Ferodo may have a claim in each. And Abex brake exposure may also reach a separate trust connected to Abex's friction business, apart from the Federal-Mogul trust. Sorting out every channel is exactly the work that turns a modest single claim into a meaningful recovery. We walk through a worked example in our guide to mesothelioma trust settlement values.
Sources of compensation beyond the brake trust claims
A brake case usually draws on several channels at once, and they run in parallel without canceling one another out.
- Asbestos bankruptcy trusts. The Federal-Mogul brake subfunds are a start, and a mechanic's history almost always reaches other brake, friction, and gasket trusts. They review and pay independently, so they stack. Learn more about how asbestos trust claims work.
- Lawsuits against solvent manufacturers. Many brake makers are still in business and can be sued directly, which matters especially for brake work after 1982 that falls outside the trust's window. A lawsuit can recover more than a trust claim, though it takes longer. Learn more about asbestos product liability lawsuits.
- Premises liability against the site owners. Dealerships, fleet operators, and other employers who controlled the shop conditions can be held responsible separately from the brake makers. Learn more about premises liability lawsuits. Anyone whose illness stops them from working, and veterans who did vehicle mechanic work in the service may have VA disability benefits on top. Learn about asbestos disability and benefit claims.
The defenses companies raise, and how we answer them
Your Abex, Wagner, and Ferodo trust claims have no defenses to answer. They're paper claims: no opposing lawyer, no deposition, no courtroom. Defenses come up only on the lawsuit side, against the makers still in business and the site owners, and brake cases draw one argument harder than most.
How we answer the defenses raised in brake and friction cases
"Chrysotile brake dust doesn't cause mesothelioma." This is the central brake defense, and the established science doesn't support it. Chrysotile is classified as a cause of mesothelioma, with no safe level of exposure, and brake work releases respirable chrysotile fiber into the mechanic's breathing zone. The industry argues that the heat of braking converts the asbestos to a harmless mineral called forsterite and that studies show no excess risk in mechanics, but that conversion is incomplete. Unconverted chrysotile remains in the dust, and the "no risk" studies are contested and heavily industry-funded. Courts have repeatedly found brake exposure capable of causing mesothelioma.
"Brake dust was just a nuisance, not a real exposure." The dust from a brake job isn't ordinary dirt; it's the worn friction material itself, which is where the asbestos is. Blowing out a drum or grinding a lining put high concentrations of fiber in the air, documented in the industrial-hygiene testing, which is what these cases are built on rather than any single-fiber theory.
"The exposure to any one company's brakes was too small to matter." A mechanic's dose was built across thousands of brake jobs over a career, from many makers. We prove a meaningful contribution from that documented task-and-career history.
Frequently asked questions
I did brake jobs for years but never "worked for" Abex, Wagner, or Ferodo. Can I still file?
Yes, and that's the usual situation. Almost no claimant worked for the brake makers; they were the mechanics who installed and serviced the brakes. A claim turns on exposure to the products, not on who signed your paycheck.
My brake work was mostly in the 1980s and '90s. Do I have a claim?
Maybe, but probably not through this trust, which pays only on exposure before the end of 1982. Asbestos brakes were sold well after that, so if your work came later, the better path is usually a lawsuit against a brake maker still in business. Tell us the years, and we'll point you to the right channel.
Is it true that chrysotile brakes are safe?
No. Chrysotile is a recognized cause of mesothelioma, and brake work puts it in the air you breathe. The claim that braking heat makes it harmless, or that mechanics show no excess risk, is an industry argument contested by the established science, and one we're well prepared to answer.
My loved one has already passed away. Can we still file a claim?
Yes. Families regularly file after a death, both trust claims and, depending on the state, a wrongful-death lawsuit. Some of those deadlines are short, so it's best to call promptly. We handle wrongful-death and estate claims as a matter of routine.
Could my family have been exposed through the work clothes?
Yes, and it's common. Brake dust rode home on coveralls, so spouses who laundered them and children in the household were exposed too. That's why our representation includes free asbestos health screening for family members, and if a family member is later diagnosed, they may have a claim of their own. The screening is a chest X-ray read by a B-reader, with a CT scan if needed; it looks for asbestos-related changes in the lungs and isn't a diagnosis or a reliable way to find mesothelioma early.
What happens when I call?
A member of our litigation team, not a screener, takes the call, and the first conversation usually runs twenty to thirty minutes. We listen to the work history, explain which claims and channels may apply, and lay out the timeline for your situation. No one is pressured to sign anything on that call.
What does it cost to work with you?
Nothing up front, and nothing at all unless we recover for you. We work on a contingency fee, which means our fee comes only out of money we recover, and the case review and consultation are free.
Talk with an asbestos lawyer about a brake claim
Whether you're a mechanic who was just diagnosed, or a spouse or adult child trying to find help for someone who's sick or who has passed, we're ready to talk. You don't need to know whose brakes they were, you don't need the old records, and we'll tell you straight whether your years fit the trust or point to a lawsuit. Start with the kind of work you did and when, and we'll take it from there.
Related resources
Sources and references
The trust's own rules, percentages, and bankruptcy facts are cited here. The brake exposure measurements live on the brake product page that owns them.
- Disease values and eligibility. Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust Distribution Procedures, §5.3(a)(3) (FMP Claims and Flexitallic/Ferodo Claims scheduled, average, and maximum values) and §5.7(b) (Federal-Mogul Exposure and Significant Occupational Exposure requirements, with the December 31, 1982 exposure date).
- Subfund structure and payment percentages. TDP §§2.1–2.3 and the trust's payment-percentage notices (FMP subfund raised to 12.2% with supplemental payments and an annual CPI-U adjustment; the T&N subfund, which pays Ferodo claims, at a lower percentage).
- Bankruptcy and trust formation. 11 U.S.C. § 524(g); the Federal-Mogul Corporation Chapter 11 reorganization (Case No. 01-10578 (CSS), Bankr. D. Del.; filed October 1, 2001; Fourth Amended Joint Plan effective December 27, 2007); the FMP subfund opened to claims on September 17, 2018.
- Financial snapshot and claims summary. Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust Annual Report and audited special-purpose financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.
- Exposure measurements. The industrial-hygiene measurements for brake and friction work are documented on the brake product page that owns them.
- Occupational exposure limits. OSHA's asbestos standard sets the permissible exposure limit at 0.1 f/cc over eight hours, with a short-term limit of 1.0 f/cc over thirty minutes. 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1001.
- Carcinogenicity. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile, as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), with no safe threshold for mesothelioma. IARC Monographs, Vol. 100C.
This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Every asbestos case turns on its own facts, exposure history, diagnosis, deadlines, available evidence, and applicable law. Reviewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.
This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Every asbestos case turns on its own facts, exposure history, diagnosis, deadlines, available evidence, and applicable law. Reviewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.