Well... the mag may not be coming to Spring Fest after all. About 8pm last night a brass fitting in the air system snapped in half while sitting in the parking lot. Couldn't get a local replacement until this morning. Now the brass is replaced, but the bag itself is leaking and I think will probably need to be replaced. I'm trying not to pass premature judgement on UAS, they still haven't opened for the day so I haven't been able to talk to them about this But what would have happened if this piece broke while I was going 75 on the freeway!? My front end woulda been slammed on the pavement, and assuming I didn't lose control and roll, my fenders and side skirts would be effed up big time! For over $2,000 for the kit, you would think it would last longer than a week before catastrophic failure!! Not to mention the damaged fittings I got when I was installing that were supposed to be overnighted, but were shipped ground so I didn't get them till the next week. Not to mention the compressor that I'm pretty sure is defective. Not to mention the other people that have received unfinished mounting cups lately. Sounds to me like UAS needs to do a little spring cleaning in their QA department to me. Needless to say, I am not very happy right now! Anyway, rant over. Long story short, 95% chance the mag is not coming to SF with me. The wife and I will still come down in her car since we have tickets to Disneyland already paid for, but the trip just won't be the same now... Anyone know if I can fix a leak between the rubber wall and bottom plate on a bag myself? Or is it just gonna have to be replaced?
dude, my sincerest apologies to you. Thanks to your build threads, I know how much time, effort, and LOVE you have put into the maggy. Ugh! I can't answer your repair the bag question as I am a former Hydraulics expert. lol How on earth could the brass fitting break? Maybe check to ensure the fitting itself is not getting tension or torque when a load is present? Make sure to find me when you get into town. I have a gift for you. Be safe and see you in a few days.
Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I am VERY frustrated right now. There is definitely no tension/torque on the fitting when the bag is under load. I have the Bilsteins up front so there is no spring perch at all -- nothing at all to get in the way. I'm no expert, but from the looks of it, it looks like defective metal. A gift for me? That is very gracious of you! What could it possibly be? I'll definitely be sure to find you (and about 100 other people from the forums that I haven't met, yet)!
Welp... it's past 10 o'clock and still no answer at UAS. We are now 3 hours behind schedule and the mag is 100% out of commission. Time to cut our losses and pack up the wife's car. See you all there
Defective metal, though possible, is not very likely on a commercial fitting like that. However, was using brass in this critical application a good idea? How about steel fittings? What material was this fitting screwed into? The break looks to be at the bottom of the pipe threads, maybe a strees riser there in the way the threads were cut/rolled? was the fitting bottomed out as there does not appear to be any sealer or pipe tape? Bottom line - just replacing the fitting as it was, would YOU trust it??
Brass fitting are common in hydraulic and pneumatic application, and plenty strong enough to handle the job...i see Teflon tape on the fitting, Teflon tape was actually invented to achieve greater torque on large bolts from it's lubrication characteristics. The fact that it helps seal the threads is just a by product of it's intended use. You have to be very careful not to over torque fittings when using Teflon tape, especially brass ones. I think that's what happened here. Seen it a lot in industrial shops and plants. Good luck getting that Maggy up and out.
The choice of brass was made by UAS, not me. They thread into a forgd aluminum plate. And no, I dont trust ANY of this system at this point. So far ive had a failed compressor, a failed fitting, and now a failed bag. If it werent so damn much work id be asking for a refund right now.
The choice of brass was made by UAS, not me. They thread into a forgd aluminum plate. Not sure what pics youre looking at. The teflon tape is clearly visible. There is also (not visible in the pics) thread sealer that was used as well. And no, I dont trust ANY of this system at this point. So far ive had a failed compressor, a failed fitting, and now a failed bag. If it werent so damn much work id be asking for a refund right now.
Damn that sucks brotha! I feel your pain on the frustration factor, and the lack of trust in the product after all of this. Keep your head up and worst case scenario after fighting with this you will end up with a bullet proof system (or at least I hope you do)
Exactly! We have 8000 (seriously) valves in my plant and 4X as many fittings. Teflon is first a lubricant and secondly a sealant by chance. Your break looks like over tightening. The only other option is misalignment...I can't see what the other end of that brass fitting was attached to but a side/support load there would probably lead to failure. We break heavy-walled nipples that you couldn't budge with 10' cheaters, by misaligning during the install and putting them in service...the slightest repetitive vibrations seem to do it.
Sorry, Maureen and I were walking around checking out all the kick ass whips and talking with friends. Didn't you stay at the Double Tree? We were there all night(s) partying down. PM me your address and I will get the gift out to you.
sorry to see this happen and i can see why you would be upset with these problems. as fare as the broken fitting it sucks but i am sure they just missed it when they inspected the fittings with there x-ray glasses. as fare as the bags leaking it is a good idea to check them before you installed them. uas kits are not really made for home install imo, they should be installed at shops that have some kind of experience with this kind of parts and can make modifications as needed to make thing fit perfectly. not saying it can not be done at home but it is an import part of the car. your kidding right. they use brass fitting in hydrulic units with over 5000 psi and the air system never runs more then 200 psi.
Yup, my old Hydro kit (5 Pumps, 2 for the suspension and 3 for the bed) all had brass fittings. Never had any issues unless I screwed up. haha
So... this has been resolved... The car is back on the road Turns out that this was due to over-tightening of the fitting into the bag. Which caused the baseplate of the bag to crack and no longer hold pressure. As for the fitting itself, it may have broken due to the same over-tightening, but there is concern by UAS that it may have potentially been defective. I have sent the piece to them for inspection. UAS did not cover this under their warranty. They decided that this was a case of "improper installation". They did, however, provide replacement parts and expedited shipping at their cost which minimized the car's downtime. For that, I commend and thank UAS. UAS claims that there is a "standard tightening procedure" for NPT (National Pipe Thread) fittings (which 99% of the fittings in this system are). That procedure states that the fitting should be tightened hand-tight, then 1 to 1.5 turns with a wrench. Any more than this could cause damage -- which it obviously did. The kicker here is that this is not stated ANYWHERE in the installation instructions supplied with the kit. And, unfortunately, I -- like 99% of other self-installers -- am not a professional pipe fitter, either. If it's not in the instructions, how could I possibly know that "standard procedure"? To compound this, as soon as I told UAS my problem, they cut me off and said "your baseplate is cracked from the fitting to the edge of the plate due to overtightening. We've seen it a hundred times." And, sure enough, that was EXACTLY what was wrong. If they have seen this 100 times over and knew exactly what was happening, WHY is this not mentioned in the instructions!? It would require only 1 line -- "NPT fittings should be fitted hand-tight, and then 1 - 1.5 turns with a wrench. Tightening more than this could cause damage." Is that so hard? So, as was stated, UAS helped resolved this problem, and minimized my cost and downtime. However, if you intend to do an install or repair yourself, do NOT over-tighten any NPT fittings because they will either break themselves or the part they are threaded into. And it will not be covered under warranty.
Glad all has been taken care of and it seems as if the vendor has stepped up to the plate? Yea, I wonder why they never updated their install manual with such an important tip when they, obviously, have known about this???
