A few years back when Dana Marine release the power hinges I bought a set from Trick. The first issue was the lifting power. Dana claimed it would lift my hatch, but it wouldn’t. After new lines and sending the trim pump back to increase the pressure it finally worked. Shortly there after Dana lowered its lifting capacity in the specs.

Now a few years later the seals in the hydraulic rams are leaking. I called Dana Marine and ultimately Dana himself. He would not sell the seals. He will only replace them in house. Now the cost is much higher and the time to ship rams across the country makes it impractical.

I plan to disassemble the rams myself and buy the seals locally, but that will waste some time. I’ve never had a manufacturer refuse to sell replacement parts before. I will not do business with Dana Marine ever again. It makes no sense to support greedy unhelpful companies like this.

I wonder if there is a liability issue...

the icc says you are correct but the practical aspects of pursuing it make it a waste of time.

as for the seals, you might want to have a look in a mcmaster carr catalog.

i always thought that company was run by space alien time travelers... you call them for some obscure widget at 4 pm on a sunday and ups is at your door with it on tuesday morning...

i have no idea how they stock what they stock and ship the way they do. it just seems impossible sometimes.

Unfortunately it is a liability issue. I can't do anything more than offer to repair them at no charge.

As it was explained to you on the phone, most likely there is some form of problem causing the leak. The rams generally don't leak on their own. It wouldn't do anyone any good to send you seals to repair a cylinder that most likely has some other problem. You would just end up twice as frustrated when it fails again.

The sales person you spoke with was friendly and he offered you a solution, which was to send the parts back and we would repair or replace them for free. Keep in mind these are a few years old, most companies don't comp repairs on parts this old.

It's unfortunate you feel the way you do, but I feel we offered you a completely reasonable and generous offer. I understand it may be slightly inconvenient to ship the part back, but it is the proper way to fix the problem.

Greed can't be applied to a situation where I'm losing money to fix a problem that exist for unknown reasons. Sight unseen I offered to fix the part at no charge. That doesn't quite fit the definition of greed.

Power Hinges were designed and invented over 15 years ago. We have over 5000 sets sold and to be very honest, it's a rare day when we have a cylinder problem.

In regards to lifting capacity. There is no across the board answer. There are several variables that determine the lifting capacity. Hinge placement, engine hatch length, engine hatch weight, engine hatch construction, etc.

Don’t you just love the way companies change their tune? Let me be very clear, HE DID NOT OFFER TO REPAIR THE SEALS AT NO CHARGE. And I never asked or wanted him to. I wanted to pay for the seals to fix the issue and winterize my boat this weekend. He did offer to let me pay for overnight shipping both ways. Very cost effective-

Liability? Come on. This is no different from buying brakes at the dealer and installing them yourself. If you do it wrong and get hurt, tough. If you want to be helpful start offering to cross ship rebuilt rams, or better yet sell the seals.

Dude, they are fixing them for free & your *****in about freight & downtime?
I've been involved with Dana products on a limited basis & I can say they are more than fair & have always been willing to make it work for myself & other customers.
Personally, I'd belly up for the freight.

No tune change, I just responded to your post just as Matt responded to you earlier.

I know it wasn't what you wanted to hear, but just as it was explained to you on the phone, that is the way we operate. It has nothing to do with greed, or any other drama. It's a simple answer that would fix the problem.

As far as overnight shipping, We were merely suggesting the fastest possible way to fix the problem. You can send the parts back through Priority Mail flat rate at $8.00 each way if you'd like. It may take a few extra days, but it's another option.

Yes, you can buy brakes and install them on your own vehicle.

As far as this hydraulic cylinder, as previously posted, and discussed on the phone, there's probably something else wrong with it, that's why it's leaking. We want it back so it can be fixed properly rather than being improperly repaired only to re-surface as another problem in the future.

We don't charge customers to repair cylinders (unless they look like they came from the bottom of Davy Jone's Locker). If there was a mis-understanding about the processing of your cylinder, it won't cost you anything. The seals are cheap. It will take me roughly 15 minutes to do the repair.

The core of this post is the same as your conversation with Matt, we just want the part to be repaired properly. If you want to take us up on that offer, send them in.

I've bought stuff from Dana in the past and it's always been top shelf and they stand behind their products. We're still running a set of their tabs that we put on a race boat 8 years ago. Sounds like your problem is solved now.

I am not really on any bandwagon here but my dealings with Dana have always been good. I bought a set of manifolds from them and had a question about the casting. I sent them a couple of pics and they had me send them back asap. No other questions, no denial, no finger pointing. They wanted to make sure that their product was good. It turned out to be nothing and the product was just fine. All questions were answered by the right folks. I would buy from them again any time.

Dana has always come through for me, have bought handles and other items from them always great people, I would send in the rams and let them do the repair, the shafts that ride on the seal might need some work that you would not be able to perform at home.