Vararam intake on Gen 3 - poorly engineered??

[albertschmitz]

I have waited until a week after installing the Vararam intake and 85 mm tb. The tb is all I expected and more, however the VR intake is poorly engineered and cheaply constructed at best.

1. It is all plastic, none of it is very firm with the exception of the "under glass" part.

2. The aluminum bracket is a poorly thought out pos, I will have to "engineer" one that is more solid to hold that side of the VR intake to make it more solid.

3. The hose clamps tend to be on the least expensive side of the spectrum and not marked to sizing in the instructions.

4. When molding the Ram air part for the bumper and the underside of the intake there should have been a molded hump to help hold the clamp instead of aluminum rivets that are not properly installed. Drilled them out and put them in so they gave tooth for the hose and clamp assembly.

Sorry for the long rant but they really need to address these issues. The thing looks great under the hood but for the money I should have looked at a product that more thought was put into.

Albert

 

[Hemi450hp]

Albert, I am going to forward this post to Vararam. They are a great group of guys to work with, and I/we want to make sure you are happy with your purchase.

 

[Chewy]

Yep! I had some issues with my G8 intake since I was in on the first run of them and they sent me a whole new unit. NQA! It was a known issue and they just fixed it. I would agree that the plastic they use isn't super high quality looking, but I'm going on 4 years with my G8 intake and not one issue since the resolved the early units issues.

The simple fact is, they perform. These guys don't just stick a filter on a tube and call it good. They actually test, retest and test again to make sure they perform.

Chris

 

[albertschmitz]

Albert, I am going to forward this post to Vararam. They are a great group of guys to work with, and I/we want to make sure you are happy with your purchase.

I appreciate that, I love the TB that I got from you, just as I thought a quality product should be.

I was just diasappointed in the "quality" for the dollar. Seems the older I get the pickier I get. Must be an old fart now

 

[Hemi450hp]

Albert, I just spoke to Vararam, and they will be giving you a call tomorrow to talk about the intake. They are a great group of guys to work with, and they always do their best to make sure every customer is happy.

 

[albertschmitz]

Yep! I had some issues with my G8 intake since I was in on the first run of them and they sent me a whole new unit. NQA! It was a known issue and they just fixed it. I would agree that the plastic they use isn't super high quality looking, but I'm going on 4 years with my G8 intake and not one issue since the resolved the early units issues.

The simple fact is, they perform. These guys don't just stick a filter on a tube and call it good. They actually test, retest and test again to make sure they perform.

Chris

I had always used Volant, not the best flow but definitely the best in quality and a solid product. Vararam should have bench marked them for the molding and "feel" of their product. I do not mind paying more for the best quality.

 

[albertschmitz]

Albert, I just spoke to Vararam, and they will be giving you a call tomorrow to talk about the intake. They are a great group of guys to work with, and they always do their best to make sure every customer is happy.

I do appreciate your efforts on this. I will inform on the process as we go along.

 

[truckin151]

absolutely agree with your assumptions so far, they do a good job when they are on and running but very poor quality wise. Had to make the aluminum bracket out if steel so it would stay put. There are other issues with it in terms of installing it and what not, but it dropped my times a good deal which is what they claimed it would do. So a few (long list) issues for a product that actually does what it says it will do, I can look past a few if the things. If it didn't work I would have pulled it already.

 

[albertschmitz]

absolutely agree with your assumptions so far, they do a good job when they are on and running but very poor quality wise. Had to make the aluminum bracket out if steel so it would stay put. There are other issues with it in terms of installing it and what not, but it dropped my times a good deal which is what they claimed it would do. So a few (long list) issues for a product that actually does what it says it will do, I can look past a few if the things. If it didn't work I would have pulled it already.

I am with you on that, if it did not work it would have been in the box back to them.

 

[albertschmitz]

Just talked to Patrick on the phone, he is the head engineer for Vararam.

He explained why the product was produced and engineered in the way it is and after that I was in agreement that the best way was done and the Rivet situation could be corrected easily.

Gave me insight on the process of production for the materials and did successfully address all of my concerns with the product.

I have had some communication as to if I would purchase it again after knowing the "shortcomings" that I had noted. The answer is absolutely, this is a great flowing product.

Thanks for getting involved Matt.

 

[Misfit Ram]

This is an awesome read. I was a little iffy on ordering one for my truck due to poor design quality i have read about. Glad they were able to offer some insight on it. When I do decide to get an intake this is still the route I want to go and yes I'll order from Moes! lol

 

[jimdd810]

Excellent customer device I'm sold as well

 

[craiggt37]

i have the vararam for my 03 hemi 1500. the problem i have is the wiring harness on the cowl. mine has a hard plastic channel that the harness runs thru. i have to remove that from the harness, then reposition the harness like the instructions say.
craig

 

[ayalai10]

The best way to fix the wire problem is to cut the plastic ties that hold them in place. They'll then tuck under to give clearance. While at it you can take the insulation thing off (it look way cleaner after that).