[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 105 (Thursday, June 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32397-32398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10784]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-18755; Notice 4]


Coupled Products, Inc., Grant of Appeal of Decision on 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Coupled Products, Inc. (Coupled Products) has appealed a decision 
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 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. Coupled Products had 
applied to be exempted from the notification and remedy requirements of 
49 U.S.C. Chapter 301, ``Motor Vehicle Safety.''
    Notice of receipt of the original 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. Coupled Products appealed, and notice of the 
appeal was published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2005 (70 FR 
10162). NHTSA received one public comment.
    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. 
Coupled Products had stated in its original petition that because of 
the specific vehicle application involved (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.
    In the notice denying Coupled Products' original petition, NHTSA 
determined that this was not a persuasive argument. NHTSA 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 original 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 
stated 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.
    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. Based on the additional data submitted by Coupled Products, NHTSA 
agrees that the noncompliance is inconsequential to safety. The Agency 
had a major concern with the possibility of the loss of braking 
capability when it denied the original petition. However, the 
petitioner has addressed this issue satisfactorily by comparing the 
performance of correctly crimped and incorrectly crimped brake hose 
assemblies. Coupled Products used two types of pressure cycle tests for 
this purpose.
    One type of pressure cycle test purported to simulate the situation 
of a ``panic stop.'' For this, the petitioner used the maximum pressure 
level in the trailer (1000 psi) as the upper limit for the pressure 
cycle (10 seconds at 1000 psi/2 seconds at zero psi), while keeping the 
brake hoses exposed to 212[deg] F. The brake hoses were exposed to over 
10,000 cycles with no failures.
    The other type of pressure cycle test conducted by the petitioner 
(SAE J1401, paragraph 4.2.12 ``Hot Impulse Test'') while exposing the 
brake hose assemblies to more extreme conditions of temperature 
(295[deg] F) and pressure (maximum pressure cycle limit of 1600 psi), 
using a lesser number of cycles (150 cycles), calls for holding 4000 
psi for two minutes. All brake hoses tested passed, demonstrating a 
burst pressure of over 10,000 psi, well over the 4000 psi pressure 
hold. The performance of the incorrectly crimped brake hose assemblies 
at the pressure/temperature envelopes covered by Coupled Products' 
testing satisfactorily addresses NHTSA's concerns that the brake hoses 
will perform their intended function under operating conditions. Under 
both types of pressure cycle tests the incorrectly crimped brake hose 
assemblies performed as well as the correctly crimped assemblies.
    NHTSA had additional concerns regarding the effect on the brake 
hoses of the trailer suspensions reaching their limit of travel, and 
also with the possibility of interference with the brake hoses during 
loading/unloading operations. The petitioner submitted a series of 
photos to address these issues. The photos indicated that there is no 
effect on the brake hose performance when the trailer's suspensions are 
in their full jounce (compressed) or rebound conditions, and that there 
is no possibility of interference with the brake hoses during loading/
unloading operations.
    The public comment in response to the notice of appeal was from EZ-
Loader, Inc., a manufacturer of boat trailers. EZ-Loader stated that it 
has sold brake hose assemblies manufactured by Coupled Products, and 
has not had any warranty claims or reports of field incidents related 
to the brake hose assemblies in question. Therefore, EZ-Loader supports 
a determination that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
petitioner has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
described is

[[Page 32398]]

inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, Coupled Products' 
appeal of NHTSA's decision on inconsequential noncompliance is granted 
and the petitioner is exempted from the obligation of providing 
notification of, and a remedy for, the noncompliance.

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

    Issued on: May 25, 2005.
Ronald L. Medford,
Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-10784 Filed 6-1-05; 8:45 am]
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