No ARB Warranty on Internal Air leaks? (1 Viewer)

[RyanR]

I am getting quotes for 4.88 regear and Front/Rear ARB Airlockers and here is one of the shops responses:

"Hello. To do gears and lockers front and rear $4300.00. no warranty on Air leak from inside of ARB as they are having issues with internal leaks."

Is this a known issue? Can any of the other mud vendors that sell ARB confirm or deny this?

 

[grinchy]

Well the price is pretty good. $1400+1000+1000=3400. $900 for labor and tax is pretty good.

Edit: gears are 1400 not 1800.

There is some chatter on air leaks. Seems to be more of a once in a while issue instead of an every time issue. There is more chatter on diff oil in the air lines. I'm also looking at doing an air locker this spring.

 

[Markuson]

I am getting quotes for 4.88 regear and Front/Rear ARB Airlockers and here is one of the shops responses:

"Hello. To do gears and lockers front and rear $4300.00. no warranty on Air leak from inside of ARB as they are having issues with internal leaks."

Is this a known issue? Can any of the other mud vendors that sell ARB confirm or deny this?

Is that just for labor?

 

[indycole]

Adding another $100 or so for hazmat disposal and new gear oil either the $4300 is a heck of a deal on everything or pretty dang steep just for the install.

 

[SchobTime]

I have f/r arb lockers on my rig - they work great. If they are installed correctly they shouldn’t leak. I would recommend going with stainless air lines as well. I do remember the shop who installed mine pinched the O ring and had to go back in and correct it after it was buttoned up. $4300 for all that is a great deal - jump on it!

 

[RyanR]

Is that just for labor?

That is for everything

 

[Markuson]

That is for everything

That seems like a fantastic total cost.

Is that a quote...or an estimate pending hours needed?

 

[RET2]

There was a post on using a 90 degree fitting exiting the rear housing to prevent fatigue leaks, you may find it and show it to installer.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I'll echo my comments on your parallel inquiry:

Internal carrier leaks are not common on the ARB, known or unkown. They rarely leak internally and generally the cases we've seen with internal leaks are either really old ARB's (we have customers with 30+ year old ARB's, hell mine are 18 years old) or get some debris working through the fluid such as broken gear bits, bearings that have come apart, moisture, etc. I for example have never warrantied a locker because of internal leaks, it's always been on 5+ year old lockers and rare at that. For example we've sold hundreds of Air Lockers in the last few years along, we've sold ~20 bonded seal (the internal ARB piston ring) in the last 10 years and many of those were lockers that didn't come from us.

The more common leak is either the seal housing o-rings (now actually quad rings) or the bulk-head fitting. The seal housing is a troubling leak as you have to open the axle back up to repair. That said with a clean install (and the newer bulkhead fitting kits) leaks are rare overall. We've shipped 100+ complete 3rd members w/ARB's in the last few years, zero come-backs. I've replaced seals in my personal ARB's once in the last 18 years. I'll do them again next time I'm in the axle for service. Poor installs (dirty, unseated seal housing, fluid contamination, etc), the seals can fail much quicker.

The ARB rarely fails to engage with leaks, the compressor can generally outwork the leak BUT it's either running frequently (as opposed to a few seconds when you engage) or constantly. Either way it doesn't leave you stranded as it either works or its open-diffed. Clear as mud?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Furthermore, if the ARB's are installed by an authorized dealer, internal links would absolutely be covered under warranty.

 

[grinchy]

I looked into three different install options. Since the parts are the same it comes down to labor. Regear and lockers, New bearings etc.

A domestic local 4x shop 18 hours. I guess this is the book time. They had no experience with toyotas.
A toyota and diff specialist. 12 hours
Send away service. 9 hours. It's flat rate so I just used baseline cost.

Your local results may vary.

I am doing some other stuff while the diffs are out as well.

 

[Doug89]

I currently have an ARB153 with a leaking bonded piston seal. It's less than 3 years old. There is a slight chance old debris contaminated the seal. I did change the gear oil after break in and 3 times after that. The copper line/housing is not leaking or bulkhead fitting is not leaking either as I swapped in a known good one. The air leak seems to come from next to the side gear inline with the ring gear which is the piston seal. Always my luck. Cheers all.
Doug@OkTireStore