PRODUCT UPGRADE: XT-6TM HOSE ; COUPLINGS TO XT-6 ES COMPONENTS Caterpillar

Caterpillar is pleased to announce an upgrade program to redesign all XT-6 hose assemblies to utilize XT-6 ES hose. XT-6 ES hose assemblies offer the following advantages:

1. Bend radius of XT-6 ES hose is ? that of XT-6 hose, resulting in improved flexibility and easier hose routing.

2. Abrasion resistance of XT-6 ES hose is 20 times greater than XT-6 hose, improving service life.

3. Price of XT-6 ES hose is generally 10% less than XT-6 hose, lowering owning and operating costs.

This IRM discusses this upgrade and highlights some critical parts service retrofit issues that dealers must address.

These changes will be reflected in the Hydraulic Information System (H.I.S.) as they are released by Caterpillar?s Product Engineering groups. The on-line version of H.I.S. is available free to dealers via the extranet at https://his.cat.com. Dealers are encouraged to exhaust existing inventories of XT-6 components and re-stock as needed with XT-6 ES equivalents. Caterpillar will discontinue service (parts availability) of XT-6 couplings in November 2004 and XT-6 bulk hose by November 2005.

XT-6 ES bulk hose will replace the previous XT-6 bulk product with all XT-6 part numbers cancelled and discontinued. Attachment I lists the appropriate bulk hose part numbers as well as product specifications.

XT-6 ES hose and couplings represent an engineered system that has undergone many hours of performance validation testing. Therefore, XT-6 ES and XT-6 hose and coupling components should never be mixed as severe performance deficiencies and safety hazards may result.

Attachment II provides cross-reference information on couplings & sleeves. While many of these XT-6 ES couplings were previously introduced in 2002 (IRM HOS02-04, PELM1095), several new additions have been made. Newly released XT-6 ES part numbers are identified in attachment II by bold type. Included in these new part numbers are some of the ?12 (3/4") and ?16 (1") XT-6 ES reuseable couplings introduced in IRM HOS04-01. Please note these tables do not represent the entire XT-6 ES product line, but rather only those parts where an equivalent XT-6 coupling existed. Please refer to the 5th Edition of the Hose Product and Tooling Guide (PECP5030-04) for a more complete list of XT-6 ES components.

H.I.S. will continue to be dealers? best source for up-to-date hose assembly information, however, it?s possible that dealers may elect to upgrade XT-6 assemblies to XT-6 ES assemblies in advance of any change being reflected in H.I.S.

XT-6 ES hoses are not always dimensionally identical to the XT-6 hoses being replaced. For hose ID?s (inside diameter) of 1.00" (-16) and smaller, the OD (outside diameter) of the XT-6 ES product is smaller than the corresponding XT-6 hose being replaced. This difference creates some implications for field replacements using XT-6 ES hose assemblies, as the existing mounting accessories on the machine such as clamps and grommets may need to be replaced. The installation of all 1.00" (?16) ID and smaller XT-6 ES hose assemblies will always require grommet replacement and may also require clamp replacement depending on dash size.

Attachment III lists common grommets and their corresponding clamps cross-referenced to the various dash sizes of both XT-6 and XT-6 ES.