I just had my new ARB air lockers (and regearing) installed by a reputable gear and driveline shop here that does hundreds of Jeeps a year, among other vehicles. I was about 4 kilometers away after picking the Jeep up and noticed an unusual sound from the front of the vehicle. Neither 4x4 nor the lockers were ever engaged. I turned around and returned to the shop.

This is their assessment after further inspection:
"Removed cover off front Dana 30 and found ARB air locker main body split in two pieces right behind ring gear. Pieces of shrapnel found in housing. When carrier broke main body (passenger side) spun and tore air fitting pipe out of seal and carrier hit housing (housing ok shim kit spun with broken carrier. Metal from carrier failure jammed between pinion and ring gear (requires new gears also.)"

They recommended reaching out to ARB which I did and this was their response:
"This is an unfortunate situation and I can understand your frustration. Although we don't see this often, we are not unfamiliar with the cause surrounding this type of failure. If you look at the manner of the break, every angle indicates it imploded (broken inward), whereas forces in a diff push the internal gears outward. The locker case also failed immidiately after install, before any load was applied through the front diff. Given the facts surrounding the failure, it indicates the locker case was damaged before it was installed into the housing. We see this happen when the installer applies excessive force to the locker while installing the bearings in a hydraulic press, or forecefully installing the ring gear without the use of heat to aid fitment, resulting in fracturing of the locker case. Hopefully this information assists you in working with your installer to an agreeable resolution."

The shop is adamant that they did nothing wrong or out of the ordinary and that carriers should not fail like that. Bearings pressed on with just over 100 psi and ring gear was heated to slip on without interference.

I am now stuck in the middle where no party wants to take responsibility and it seems like the only solution is me forking out for new parts again!

Has anybody seen or heard of any failures like this? Any installers familiar
enough to see how installer error could result in an unseen failure?

Thanks for any and all advice!
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Looks like ARB went to the cheapest supplier so they could make the most profit. Looks like shitty Chinese casting to me. Don't understand how pushing bearings on could crack the casing. Want to know from ARB how one actually installs the bearings as a factory will press them on as well. Their story is such crap. To hold the case and press the ring gear on creates compression straight down and would not contribute to a fracture in the casting even if the ring gear was not heated. Secondly the bearings being pressed on need so little force to get them on that I question how strong the ARB product is of that is all it takes. And third that fractire line up by the spider gear through pin sure looks funny near the broken hole.
Maybe a rethink on ARB should be done as it surely makes 50 prospective buyers beware anyway whereas a simple "we will stand by it" gesture would make 50 buyers think what a great product when they see the manufacturer honour something like this. Glad I bought a Dometic fridge recently instead of a ARB. I won't look at any ARB product until I hear a satisfactory resolution here. If the OP canvasses other shops who have done the same then ARB really does not have a leg to stand on. The shop is on the hook for this at the very least if ARB did not have a faulty casing. File a small claim in Court. Pretty easy to do. Get your ass covered first them you can go ahead and pay for it while claim is pending.

 

Did the shop order all parts, or did you supply the parts and they just installed? If that shop ordered everything and did the labor, then 1 thing is crystal clear to me......you shouldn't have to deal with any of it. The shop should need to repair this and work with ARB on the resolution. You shouldn't have to do anything IMO. Not sure how things work up there north of the border, but I would be arguing with the shop to fix it and open a dispute with my credit card company.

 

Yes, I so I did supply the parts (ordered new through Northridge4x4), and so that is what is certainly complicating things.

 

Sigh, y, that is the one thing that certainly throws all good solutions out the window. It's not very often, but every now and then we see a a case-study of why it's good to let shops order all parts. Given the situation I think it comes down to this for me. It is impossible to prove labor was at fault, while it is completely obvious you can prove the part failed. I think the best bet is continued pressure on ARB for a replacement and maybe really hope that the shop will accept some shred of possibility of fault as well and help with other things like gears. This is gonna suck all around.

 

If the shop had supplied the parts, more likely than not they would have reordered, repaired then negotiate the parts warranty without you having to deal with it, hard to pinpoint fault could be faulty parts, could be install error, hope you get it worked out

 

Out of curiosity do you know the manufacture date on that?
I had some issues with things created during 2020 -2022...

 

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I don't. It was ordered through Northridge4x4 and shipped at the beginning of August. I could try asking ARB with the serial number next time I talk to them.

 

I was incorrect in saying the shop is on the hook as they did not supply the parts. As Resharp found out ans stated that is one of the pitfalls of trying to save a buck by supplying yourself. Perhaps the shop could take pictures, publish procedures etc and write an article back to ARB as to what they did to perform the install. And the record they have if there has never been any issues with prior customers.

 

Well, i've never had to find that out personally!