SXTH Charge Pipe Failure on the Trail

[JayTech]

Having experience with race cars, we expect you'll agree that a lack of compliance will result in boost tubes blowing off or ripping off intercooler mounts. SXTH advertises "short" couplers. In contrast, we've engineered couplers and constant tension T-bolt clamps that allow for ample compliance while withstanding 4X more boost than the Tacoma's turbo is capable of producing.

In racing applications yea proper sized couplers to handle flexing is essential, but for how most drive these trucks(and I drive mine hard when I go off road) I don’t see the couplers being a point of weakness. Are they the best? No. But they’ll do the job. The clamps however, are a gamble. You can strike it lucky and never have a worm gear clamp fail, but 9 times out of 10, if you develop a boost leak, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s from a loose clamp as they can’t hold tension.

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[Will721]

In racing applications yea proper sized couplers to handle flexing is essential, but for how most drive these trucks(and I drive mine hard when I go off road) I don’t see the couplers being a point of weakness. Are they the best? No. But they’ll do the job. The clamps however, are a gamble. You can strike it lucky and never have a worm gear clamp fail, but 9 times out of 10, if you develop a boost leak, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s from a loose clamp as they can’t hold tension.

Or possibly because they are so short it just moves the point of failure.

Not saying that will or could be the case.

 

[Diablo Taco]

That definitely sucks. SXTH has probably sold around 1,000 of these charge pipe kits, so one reported failure out of that many isn't exactly a huge red flag, but it's still unfortunate that it happened to you. I'd definitely reach out to them and see what else could potentially attributed to the failure.

They may have seen something similar before or be able to determine if it was a manufacturing defect, an installation issue, or something else entirely. At the very least, you'll get a better understanding of what happened and hopefully they'll be able to make it right.

 

[SXTH Element]

Hey Clayton,

First off, we're sorry this happened, especially while you were out on the trail. Nobody wants to spend a day on the mountain dealing with a charge pipe instead of enjoying their truck, and even though we can't change how your trip went, we'd still like to make things right,or at least better.

We'd like the opportunity to inspect the parts so we can determine exactly what happened. From the photos alone, it's impossible to say whether the issue originated with the clamp, the installation, a manufacturing defect, or another contributing factor. Rather than speculate, we'd prefer to examine the actual components and determine the root cause.

We've shipped a significant number of these kits, and many customers are using them both on-road and off-road without issue. That said, we take every report like this seriously because it's an opportunity to learn and make our products even better.

No matter what, we'd like to get a replacement headed your way. We'd also appreciate the opportunity to inspect the original parts after the swap so our engineering team can better understand what happened. Once we've completed our review, we'll gladly share what we find.

If our inspection identifies an opportunity to improve the product, even if it's something as simple as using a different clamp, we won't hesitate to make that change. Continuous improvement has always been part of how we approach product development.

Our goal isn't just to get your truck back on the road. We want to understand exactly why this happened so we can continue building products our customers can trust.

 

[Will721]

Just out of curiosity, when you guys designed the product, did you take a test vehicle off road and really put it through its paces? As in 4x4 lo over obstacles to really get that dynamic load and get that engine twisting in its mounts?

 

[SXTH Element]

Just out of curiosity, when you guys designed the product, did you take a test vehicle off road and really put it through its paces? As in 4x4 lo over obstacles to really get that dynamic load and get that engine twisting in its mounts?

If you're asking whether we jump our trucks, the answer is no. We'd like to keep them around to continue testing our products.

That said, we absolutely do take our trucks off-road. In fact, you'll catch those clips in the intro of many of our YouTube videos.

Many of our products have also been tested in demanding off-road environments, including Moab, Land Between the Lakes, and Gulches Off Road Park, which is local to us. That testing includes technical trails where the vehicle experiences the engine movement and the chassis articulation you'd expect during while on the trails and in every offroad mode and 2 wheel - 4 wheel drive configuration.

In addition to our own testing, we have a network of real-world testers using our products around the world in a wide variety of climates and terrain. Their feedback is an important part of our development process. And yes, that includes a few people who aren't afraid to send their $60k truck off a jump.

We design our products for enthusiasts who actually use their vehicles, so real-world testing has always been an important part of our development process.

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