[en] For increasing the service life of steel components that form a friction pair and are operated under conditions of dynamic loads, elevated temperatures and corrosive media, the process of working contact surface modification has been developed with the use of the vacuum-arc technique. The process has been realized in a two-stage technological cycle, including hardening of the base material by ion-plasma nitriding that replaces effectively the ''furnace'' nitriding, and a subsequent deposition of protective coatings Mo-N (molybdenum nitride) and Ti-N (titanium nitride). Various physical properties of the modified samples (microhardness depth profiles, as well as structure peculiarities of nitrided layers and nitride coatings) have been investigated as functions of the parameters of the process under development. Comparative laboratory tests of service characteristics (abrasion/corrosion resistances) of the components have been made, and an essential improvement of these characteristics has been demonstrated for the modified surfaces.