vintage Air POS

[tsetsaf]

Vintage Air is a terrible product for our trucks. I now have 24k since the restore and while driving along the entire blower just fell off. The plastic housing literally tore apart. This is the second major component failure of their product with the first being a grenaded compressor. Called their support line and of course this has "never happened before" and must be your fault. They requested that I completly remove the entire unit and send it in. They will fix it and charge me for parts.

Don't buy Vintage Air.

[leftybass209]

We always appreciate real world experience with products. There's far more people that have had faultless performance from vintage air, than those that have had problems. Sometimes catastrophic failure in a part happens, but it doesn't mean we should condemn the company because of it. If they were jerks on the phone, didn't cooperate, or accused you directly, that information is more useful than a line of assumptions.

[Jonlopes]

Everybody makes mistakes and every product has failures. What sets a company apart is how they deal with problems. In my opinion companies with a premium product should have the best customer service. Unfortunately there are enough companies out there that have lied about "this has never happened before" that no-one believes it anymore whether or not it is actually true.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Originally Posted by Jonlopes

Everybody makes mistakes and every product has failures. What sets a company apart is how they deal with problems. In my opinion companies with a premium product should have the best customer service. Unfortunately there are enough companies out there that have lied about "this has never happened before" that no-one believes it anymore whether or not it is actually true.

Yup.

And, also unfortunately, for a reason I don't understand, when humans buy something, we often have "buy in".
Meaning, just because we have it, to us it suddenly becomes the "best thing since sliced bread".

I try not to climb on that band wagon. Not that it matters to anyone but me, but I cheerlead for very few. I even black out logos on shoes, etc.

All I know about Vintage Air is that when I went out and uncovered my truck yesterday, the heat in the cab had risen to 90°. Before the engine
reached operating temp, I was cooling my jets at 74°... and the inside the cab temp was headed south fast when I turned RAT off..

That, and when I *have* had a question, the VA folks have been informative, quick and friendly. On both installs.

But that's just me.

[Wrenchbender Ret]

I just put a Vintage -Air Gen-IV tin my 56. It was a nightmare to install. I put A Gen II in a 70 a few years ago & it went real slick. They were real helpful when I called for assistance. If there is a next time I will look at something different.

[72MARIO]

Old air isn't any better. They don't even return phone calls.

[69 GMC Daily Driver]

I have installed 5 Vintage Air systems and they have performed flawlessly. No issues of any kind. I have never had a part fail. I will continue to recommend their products.

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by tsetsaf

Vintage Air is a terrible product for our trucks. I now have 24k since the restore and while driving along the entire blower just fell off. The plastic housing literally tore apart. This is the second major component failure of their product with the first being a grenaded compressor. Called their support line and of course this has "never happened before" and must be your fault. They requested that I completly remove the entire unit and send it in. They will fix it and charge me for parts.

Don't buy Vintage Air.

You are literally the only person I have talked to that has had ANY issues with the operation of their VA setup... I have heard problems with other aftermarket A/C units... VA Gen VI is heading into "Raymond"...

[67ChevyRedneck]

Wow... going on 8 years in my C10 without so much as a recharge and my A/C gets used from March/April to as late as September. This isn't a truck that sits either, I've probably put 40K miles on it since then, with countless hours sitting in traffic.

Liked it so much it's in my 65 Mustang as well, this will be the 3rd summer. I had an issue with it last year, but it turned out to be a Schrader valve had a slow leak on the fill port. I used it for the first time a few weeks ago and it's nice and cold still.

Pics of damage?

How old is the system? I'd have to guess at least 3-5 years with your mileage. What do you reasonably expect VA to do, replace the whole thing for free? That's not a realistic expectation, unless you're still within the warranty period.

Sanden Compressors are about the best there is, and I believe all aftermarket companies for these trucks use them.

[flashed]

Does anyone have a contact person at V Air or a phone number ? Im having a minor problem.

[tsetsaf]

Originally Posted by leftybass209

We always appreciate real world experience with products. There's far more people that have had faultless performance from vintage air, than those that have had problems. Sometimes catastrophic failure in a part happens, but it doesn't mean we should condemn the company because of it. If they were jerks on the phone, didn't cooperate, or accused you directly, that information is more useful than a line of assumptions.

Well 2 major component failures on a thousand dollar system is a big deal in my book. Notably in 24k miles.

I won't say the rep was a jerk as much as being un-helpful and non-responsive. His name is Reuben and in our last conversation he promised to email me a RA number. I have not received it and emailed and called trying to reach him.

I finally gave up and bought some aluminum sheeting that I used to rivet the broken plastic box back together. I then made a "home-made" mount for the blower. AC works again but looks like crap; covered it with black duck tape so it is not obvious. Mind you this truck is not just a DD but an award winning show truck with 2 best of shows at Hot August Nights and an auto cross win at Good-Guys. We also use it in our video production sequences.

If I am forced to remove the Vintage Air for repairs I will not reinstall their product. If I am going through the trouble I might as well replace everything with a different brand. I have spotted a different company advertising on this board.

[tsetsaf]

Photos showing broken box, fan, and view up. This thing literally just fell off. OP was from my cell phone and attachment option does not work on that device for some reason.

[leftybass209]

They don't warranty by mileage, they do it in years, it looks like 3 years. How long have you owned it? You don't have many options, fix it yourself (as you did), replace it with something else, or have them fix it. Call and ask for a manager if the last guy wasn't helpful enough. Regardless if your truck has won every award known to man, or its little more than a pile of mismatched parts in your garage, companies don't change their warranty policies or customer service. Did you install it, or did someone else install it?

[tsetsaf]

Yep warranty is 3 years but not from date of purchase according to Vintage Air; it is from manufacture date. Truck was finished 1.5 years ago; unit purchased less than 2 years ago.

Installed by builder.

[rcrahn]

I have a VA system in my 1969 Firebird. The micro switches were a little touchy to get aligned but once done it works just fine. I will add they were very helpful to me over the phone.

I'm looking at these pictures and I see the broken housing. But just find it hard to believe it just "tore apart". I mean, once a new unit is properly installed up under the dash it should be just fine. So how the heck does that happen? I dunno....bit it sure looks like somebody just gave that unit a good kick.

I'd be careful bashing any company on line without first going to great lengths to reasonably resolve any issue. It's just the mature and right thing to do.

[leftybass209]

Originally Posted by rcrahn

I'm looking at these pictures and I see the broken housing. But just find it hard to believe it just "tore apart". I mean, once a new unit is properly installed up under the dash it should be just fine. So how the heck does that happen? I dunno....bit it sure looks like somebody just gave that unit a good kick.

I'd be careful bashing any company on line without first going to great lengths to reasonably resolve any issue. It's just the mature and right thing to do.

Your thoughts echo my own.

Op: If you didn't install the unit yourself it would be really hard to verify it's condition, or how the builders handled it. Seems like you should be having a more detailed conversation with the shop.

[tsetsaf]

Originally Posted by rcrahn

I have a VA system in my 1969 Firebird. The micro switches were a little touchy to get aligned but once done it works just fine. I will add they were very helpful to me over the phone.

I'm looking at these pictures and I see the broken housing. But just find it hard to believe it just "tore apart". I mean, once a new unit is properly installed up under the dash it should be just fine. So how the heck does that happen? I dunno....bit it sure looks like somebody just gave that unit a good kick.

I'd be careful bashing any company on line without first going to great lengths to reasonably resolve any issue. It's just the mature and right thing to do.

It's been 2 weeks of trying to deal with the company. I did not post this lightly but after reading all the glowing reviews thought I should post my experience. The unit was not kicked but a good theory. My original thought was maybe something was putting pressure on the top of the blower forcing it down but that was not the case.

The plastic housing material literally crumbled in my hands around that blower mounting area. Possibly a bad batch of plastic.

If you look at the photo of the blower mounting face you will see that all six of what were embedded nuts in the plastic are now just loose. It was a materials failure.

[tsetsaf]

Originally Posted by leftybass209

Your thoughts echo my own.

Op: If you didn't install the unit yourself it would be really hard to verify it's condition, or how the builders handled it. Seems like you should be having a more detailed conversation with the shop.

Installer was my FIL. Build quality speaks for itself. I might agree if I had not already had another major component fail on the VA system.

Lefty do you sell VA systems?

[leftybass209]

Negative, I just got hooked up with someone who flipped cars, so through the course of a year we installed around 14 or 15 in various makes and models (3 were 67-72's). I'll admit, their plastic is just plastic and needs care when installing. It doesn't inspire confidence like the OEM material used on the inner boxes of the 71-72's. Aside from flat out abuse, only vibration can cause that kind of damage (outside of catastrophic failure ).

[67ChevyRedneck]

I don't see this bracket in any of your pics, so if the fan was hanging by it's weight off of the unit it would definitely fail:






It was supposed to mount here:

[diceman50]

Originally Posted by tsetsaf

Vintage Air is a terrible product for our trucks. I now have 24k since the restore and while driving along the entire blower just fell off. The plastic housing literally tore apart. This is the second major component failure of their product with the first being a grenaded compressor. Called their support line and of course this has "never happened before" and must be your fault. They requested that I completly remove the entire unit and send it in. They will fix it and charge me for parts.

Don't buy Vintage Air.

I have installed and repaired many aftermarket A/C systems over the years and I have never seen one fail like this. (any brand) In my experience the vast majority of failures are caused by improper installation. I helped my neighbor install a VA unit in his 72 last summer and he has had no issues at all.

I can tell you this, If you are not happy with the VA unit you are going to be sorely disappointed with anything else out there.

And before anyone asks, NO I don't work for or sell VA products.

Diceman

[67ChevyRedneck]

After looking some more, you're box is hanging down a good bit lower than mine (and could be from the blower missing) but I would also double check that the bracket below is installed on the firewall as well. I remember on mine it was a real pain in the ass to do by myself:

[tsetsaf]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

After looking some more, you're box is hanging down a good bit lower than mine (and could be from the blower missing) but I would also double check that the bracket below is installed on the firewall as well. I remember on mine it was a real pain in the ass to do by myself:

Thanks for the photo above and this diagram. Our units look completely different. Was your truck a non-AC cab? My blower mounted at 90 degrees to yours and there were no additional brackets or mounting tabs (something I questioned VA tech support on in our first conversation). I'll be honest that my first assumption was that

Someone else questioned whether the unit was kicked but all of the breakage seems to be downward in nature. I believe it just fell off.

Your question and photos did force me to go back and download the install sheet just to make sure an extra bracket was not missing. http://www.vintageair.com/Instructions2013/901150.pdf and there is no bracket. As you can see in the install instructions the blower just mounts to the unit. There is one bracket that mounts to the back side top, next to the firewall, but it bolts to the plastic box not the fan.

[diceman50]

Originally Posted by tsetsaf

Your question and photos did force me to go back and download the install sheet just to make sure an extra bracket was not missing. http://www.vintageair.com/Instructions2013/901150.pdf and there is no bracket. As you can see in the install instructions the blower just mounts to the unit. There is one bracket that mounts to the back side top, next to the firewall, but it bolts to the plastic box not the fan.

If you look at page 9 and page 11 of the install manual (figure 5, 7, and 7a) you will see that there is supposed to be a front bracket. Part # 644080. If the bracket is not there that is surely the problem.

Your unit is exactly like the one on my neighbors truck.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by tsetsaf

Thanks for the photo above and this diagram. Our units look completely different. Was your truck a non-AC cab?

Yes, non-air cab, however that shouldn't affect anything, that only changed the block off plate on the firewall... it looks to me like they redesigned the units, mine still uses the old school cables, (yours appears to be electronic - like the one in my 65 Mustang) and my lines aren't all "stacked" coming out of the firewall, they're stacked two heater hoses next to two a/c lines, and the obvious differences to the fan.

My kit was purchased in 2006.