Real World Solutions, Inc

Home of RA Classic Apex Seals and RA Super Seals

4/3/04 :

To all our APEX SEAL customers:

We had temporarily halted shipments of seals until we determined the cause of two reports of problems with our seals. Out of the thousands of seals delivered, only two instances of defects have occurred but we take quality and our reputation very seriously. Here is the background and conclusions of our investigation.

Due to the extremely high demand for these seals, we subcontracted the finish grinding of some batches to subcontractors. Prior to this year, this grinding was done on a surface grinder and was a dry process. Feed rate is critical in order to avoid localized heating which can cause stresses to develop in the material. Unfortunately, the speed was not properly controlled on all seals at this subcontractor and in some cases, the thickness of the seal was out of tolerance.

The two engines that experienced the problems were non-stock high performance turbocharged installations. At some boost level, the seals got hot enough to enable the internal stresses to warp the seal causing it to stick in the groove resulting in lost compression.

Apex seals manufactured after 1-1-04 are no longer surface ground. They are now CNC wet lapped which eliminates all localized heating stress and results in far greater thickness accuracy.

Even though our policy was to warranty only seals used in stock applications, we will replace any returned seals (used or not) purchased from us prior to 1-1-04. Note that only a relatively few seals out of the thousands delivered are likely to have a problem. If you are currently running these seals and have not had a problem, you are not likely to have one. Also note that normally aspirated engines do not seem to be affected. Turbo boost or nitrous injection was used in the affected engines.

We are available by email and phone if you are a customer with questions or concern. Please feel free to contact us - we will be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Now that our investigation is complete, new apex seals are available and we have sufficient seals now to fill current back orders and replace the currently known suspect seals.

Thank you to all of our customers who have expressed their confidence and satisfaction with our products. We will continue to do everything we can to deserve your trust.

Tracy Crook, Real World Solutions