[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10162-10163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3989]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-18755; Notice 3]


Coupled Products, Inc., Notice of Appeal of Denial of Petition 
for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Coupled Products, Inc. (Coupled Products) has appealed a decision 
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that denied its 
petition for a determination that its noncompliance with Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 106, ``Brake hoses,'' is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    Notice of receipt of the petition was published on August 5, 2004, 
in the Federal Register (69 FR 47484). On December 24, 2004, NHTSA 
published a notice in the Federal Register denying Coupled Products' 
petition (69 FR 76520), stating that the petitioner had not met its 
burden of persuasion that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of Coupled Products' appeal is published in 
accordance with NHTSA's regulations (49 CFR 556.7 and 556.8) and does 
not represent any agency decision or other exercise of judgment 
concerning the merits of the appeal.
    Coupled Products determined that certain hydraulic brake hose 
assemblies that it produced do not comply with S5.3.4 of 49 CFR 
571.106, FMVSS No. 106. S5.3.4 of FMVSS No. 106, tensile strength, 
requires that ``a hydraulic brake hose assembly shall withstand a pull 
of 325 pounds without separation of the hose from its end fittings.'' A 
total of approximately 24,622 brake hose assemblies, consisting of 
3,092 assemblies bearing Part Number 5478 and 21,530 assemblies bearing 
Part Number 5480 may not comply with S5.3.4. The potentially affected 
hoses were manufactured using a ``straight cup'' procedure rather than 
the appropriate ``step cup'' procedure. Compliance testing by the 
petitioner of eight sample hose assemblies from two separate 
manufacturing lots of these hoses revealed that seven of the eight 
samples experienced hose separation from the end fittings at loads from 
224 to 317 pounds. Coupled Products asserted that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action 
is warranted.
    NHTSA reviewed the petition and determined that the noncompliance 
is not inconsequential to motor vehicle

[[Page 10163]]

safety. Coupled Products had stated in its petition that because of the 
specific vehicle application involved, since the hoses are used in 
specific boat trailer applications of a single trailer manufacturer, 
the hoses are installed in such a manner as to make it unlikely that 
the hose assembly would be subject to the type of forces to which the 
tensile strength test is directed.
    However, NHTSA determined that this was not a persuasive argument, 
since it is also true of many automobile brake hose applications. NHTSA 
also pointed out that the tensile strength test is a worst case test, 
subjecting the crimped joint to a separation pull. The purpose of the 
tensile strength test is to test only the crimped area in a brake hose. 
A test conducted at an angle to the end fitting centerline, such as 
conducted by the Coupled Products, would not measure the strength of 
the crimped area by itself but also the interaction of the end fitting 
with the interior wall of the brake hose. This would result in a more 
lenient test for the crimped area.
    In its petition, Coupled Products had also asserted that because 
the braking system on the trailer is independent of the towing 
vehicle's braking system, a failure of the hose assembly on the trailer 
would not result in a loss of braking capability of the towing vehicle, 
and the driver would be able to stop both vehicles. In response, NHTSA 
determined that in the event that the failure of the hose assembly 
occurred, the driver of the towing vehicle would be faced with a 
potentially serious safety situation due to the reduced stopping 
capability of the vehicle combination.
    The compliance testing by Coupled Products resulted in seven of 
eight sample hose assemblies experiencing hose separation from the end 
fittings at loads from 224 to 317 pounds. This represents a 
noncompliance margin of from 45 percent to 2 percent, respectively, 
compared to the requirement of 325 pounds, over a total population of 
24,622 hose assemblies. NHTSA stated that a noncompliance margin of up 
to 45 percent presents a serious safety concern.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA decided that the 
petitioner did not meet its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
it described is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
its petition was denied.
    In its appeal from NHTSA's denial, Coupled Products provided new 
data. It performed new testing on the noncompliant hoses using a hot 
impulse test modeled in accordance with SAE J1401, which is to be 
incorporated into FMVSS No. 106 in 2006 (69 FR 76298, 76324). This test 
was conducted using both properly crimped and incorrectly crimped brake 
hoses. The hoses passed the test without failures. In addition, Coupled 
Products conducted life cycle impulse testing based on SAE J1401, using 
the maximum brake pressure level (1000 psi) of the trailer for 10,000 
cycles, equivalent to two panic stops a day--every day--for ten years, 
to assess the potential of catastrophic failure or leakage. This test 
was conducted using correctly and incorrectly crimped brake hoses. 
Couple Products states that there was no deterioration of hose assembly 
integrity. Coupled Products' appeal submission containing the specific 
data can be found in the NHTSA Docket for this petition.
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the petition described above. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be 
submitted by any of the following methods. Mail: Docket Management 
Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Nassif Building, Room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, 20590-0001. Hand 
Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC. It is requested, but not required, 
that two copies of the comments be provided. The Docket Section is open 
on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal Holidays. Comments 
may be submitted electronically by logging onto the Docket Management 
System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help'' to obtain 
instructions for filing the document electronically. Comments may be 
faxed to 1-202-493-2251, or may be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
    The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received 
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will 
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or 
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal 
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: April 1, 2005.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at CFR 
1.50 and 501.8)

    Issued on: February 22, 2005.
Ronald L. Medford,
Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-3989 Filed 3-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P