Saw this last night at like 10 p.m. Not scared to answer guys. Just been REALLY busy. I'll give you the scoop on everything that I've read hear. Even things that don't pertain to brackets that have been stated. I feel I can openly chat with folks here and they don't get offended so I'll give some smart ass comments along the way as well. Just so you know it's me and not some professional business dude LOL.
Brackets first. Yes they are plastic, no I don't like them as much as the metal brackets BUT they are not going to break. I have higher up's that I answer to as well and they are in place for now. It's not just some plastic they make toy cars with. You have no reason to worry about them breaking. It's no different than all the guys that said the quick connects are plastic and are gonna break blah blah blah. How many have had that issue now in the 3 years they have been out???? I'll be not a single person.
The only thing about the plastic bracket that is no good is it's to flexible. It bends as you tighten. However, if you snug it up it actually holds to the frame just fine. If you "tighten" it up and it starts to bow and isn't flush with the frame and can move. Snug it up and some lock tight and your fine. It's not the 80's anymore folks. There are other alternatives to metal these days.
Warranty issues. No doubt that we have had a high number of warranty issues this year. I apologize greatly for it and wish we didn't. HOWEVER it happened trying to make the pumps better. Just a year or 2 ago everyone loved AirDogs, they are so great etc etc. Well we set out to make them even better. No excuses, we had some issues along the way. More than one actually. I'll tell you what happened there. We made a change internally to our pumps, did lots of testing, everything worked great. Boom, it his the market. MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE!!! Not cheaper. Well as they get in the field we start seeing brand new pumps failing. Get them back and find fuel to be leaking past the seal. BUT not where the "seal" is. But where it's pressed in to the base. Found out why and back to the drawing board to redesign this seal. Redesign takes time THEN it has to be manufactured. During that time the original is in the field increasing the warranties still. The biggest pain of the entire thing was it was hit and miss. And it didn't show up on our testing usually. Slowly it passed fluid and boom fuse pops and it's toast.
Now, new seal is designed and in place. Been in place for a few months now and I PERSONALLY watch the warranties VERY VERY CLOSE. So far the new design is great. All of these warranty issues you see are not what has been going out the door for the last few months. Yet pumps that have sat on dealers or distributors shelves. I can't make them disapear so I have to work through it. Yes phones became MUCH busier and harder to get through but we always take care of our customers.
Now to some other topics to get you to trust what is said above. As you can see I won't hide behind an issue. I'll gladly work it out and won't give up til it's fixed. Will we lose sales and dealers, yes but that's part of it. We lost dealers because they said the quick connects were cheaper (they aren't, they are more expensive) and were going to break etc etc. Show of hands to see how many have had one break? Or even had an issue with one. Absolutely we have had one or 2 leak here or there. But they are VERY RARE!! They aren't anything less than what comes on your factory truck now. They don't leak so why would ours? Folks don't like change and I am one of them. I HATED the quick connects. I gave it no chance and was forced into working with them and they have been great!!
Fuel lab pumps. Good pumps if you run them on kill and don't drive them everyday and expensive as hell. Just because they don't have a shaft seal and allow fuel to run inside the motor doesn't mean you have the problems of electric motor's solved. Those things aren't made for longevity. There is a thread on here somewhere that I asked the people that did the testing from NADM to come on and chat. But they never did. They claimed all this higher flow bull chit better than AirDog blah blah blah blah blah. So I personally bought one and tested it. Given who they are getting their marketing advice from. It's no wonder I found their numbers to be a lie when I tested them. The numbers were nearly identical to the AirDog. BUT you will sacrifice life span. And air separation HAHAHAHAH!!!! Pop open that DO NOT OPEN container and see what you get. What a joke! Talk about a horribly designed/engineered pump!! I won't tell them why. I'll let them continue to put them out and people will see why eventually. Our goal is daily driver trucks. If we have a pump that will run a big nasty drag truck or puller. So be it, I'm all for doing it. BUT I'll be the first to tell you if i can or can't.
Did I miss anything? AirDog is doing VERY VERY well. Any of you that have switched want a pump to try to show you I'm not lying? I didn't proof read this before hitting post so sorry for any mistakes or if I missed anything.
EDIT: AirDog prices haven't increased in more than a year. We have put more money in them but not increased the price. And when you compare apples to apples on fuel systems on the market. AirDog's are cheaper. I'm almost positive of it. Might check your prices again. Most compared AirDog II systems to a fass and they are close in price. Compare regular AirDog's with a fass and tell me the price. Thats an apples to apples comparison.