AN fittings

Buying some fittings and wanted to ask you guys if there is much of a difference between russel,earls or aeroquip. I see many other names I never heard of besides Jegs & Summit chin house brands.
What say ye??

Fragola

I would go with Fragola or Earls, in that order.

See that....forgot about the Frags. CRS
Thanks guys.

Look at Aircraft Spruce and specialty. I bet theirs is US made

My favorite as well....

No real difference except in how hard it hits your wallet. Probably all made by the same mfg company just with different stamps on the bar stock.

Fragola appears to have on site machining for their aluminum fittings, so they may be the exception to the overseas made products. But, machined in the USA from what bar stock and rough shapes?

Al, SK has XRP brand, some seem to swear by it. I ended up using a bunch of their stuff just because that's what SK carries. It's not bad but I prefer the Russell brand, I have had good luck with it. Since I don't live near SK anymore, I looked at some fittings on Summit the other day and Aeroquip seems to be slightly cheaper than some other brands.

Moreland Belt and Hose in Freeport carries Aeroquip stuff.

Aeroquip for about 95% of what I've used over the years. Never an issue. Earls, Fragola and the other US made premium brands are fine. XRP is top shelf. Pay attention to the IDs of the hose ends and hard parts. They aren't all the same. And I would recommend using hose and hose ends from the same manufacturer.

I measured the i.d. of some various brands of fittings. The Fragola was biggest. I can't remember the other brands, but it was not a large sampling. So I usually use fragola

I use Australian made Speedflow, I avoid the chinese made stuff. I've used Earls and Aeroquip in the past, it was fine. No experience with Fragola or XRP

An interesting point was brought up about the ID of some of the chinese fittings, I have seen some of the 'FULL flow" fittings having a much smaller ID

My car is mostly Fragola with a little bit of aeroquip mixed in. The Fragola is a usually a little cheaper and it is a nice product.

Not the place to cheap out.
All the brands listed are the good stuff.
I have a mix on my car , and I have found that the brand name stuff re-uses well also.

You need to see the complete Fragola catalog, most comprehensive. They have a large inventory and can make anything. They are all USA made. This is another sector of the automotive industry that has seen china infiltration. The first round on a "GOOD QUALITY KNOCK OFF", is that it can't generate a profit. Sub contractors come in and those subs sub out their work to cheaper subs. Cheaper prices come at the cost of poorer quality material, machining and quality control. Its very difficult to know what you are getting. Unless you are in that particular industry, many parts look alike. Sometimes you need a cheap part. The thought process at that moment warrants the lower cost, lower quality part. Sometimes it works, most times you pay more in time and aggravation.

I use the Earls UltraPro fittings and hose. High quality Teflon lined easy to assemble and made in USA. They have an excellent selection. I’ve also used XRP with good results. They have some specialty items others don’t have.

I had no idea that Fragola is less than 10 miles from where I grew up. They are in Southington CT.

I don't go to SK as often as I used to.Unless I have a tow bringing me out there the are over 20 miles away. Although they match the mail order guys it's still $25 in diesel for me to get out there. The free shipping is hard to beat. I have alot of Russel stuff on there so for now That's what I will use. Maybe one day Cotton braided and black fittings will replace all the steel but..................
For now I'm adding a pair of NOS plates to use as an intercooler.Tech told me 44 jets will give me 50 hp from each plate and lower the IAT over 100* so more than 6 lbs of boost can be used. I am a little over a half a second away from my goal and legal limit and that's IT!!!

As one who knows this industry and as one that sourced, assembled, tested, sold 1000's of hydraulic hose and fitting products to OEM's, Aerospace, Military/Defense organizations...your car will never know the difference on the origin of your fittings. The money you spend will either be a little or a lot depending on who's brand stamp is on the fitting. Screw machine houses and CNC centers pump out fittings and shapes (90's 45's, Run Tee's..etc) from similar raw material stock and just change out the ID roll stamp when it's time to change job orders. The raw forging shapes all come from a few suppliers and sold to these houses. Very similar to how one or two foundries supply camshaft blanks to all the cam grinding houses. Hex bar stock can come from all over the world and most likely is of foreign origin. Ask for a Raw Material Mill Cert and/or a Manufacturer's Certificate of Conformance when buying your next Made in USA fittings and see what you can get.

When it comes to hose and hose ends, it is here that your attention to detail is paramount and staying away from the cheaper import items. Chemical compatibility and materials used in the import construction may not be up to par with their domestic or name brand counterparts. Hose ends need and must match the I.D & O.D. for the retention style the crimp or reusable end is designed for. There are A.N. hoses that are smaller in diameter than a similar hose in the same "dash" size (measured in 1/16") family. Look at Summit SS braid hose and their Nylon braid in -6. The SS braid has an I.D. of .343 and the Nylon is .375 SAE 30R7.

The devil is in the details when selecting the hose and hose ends.

And... it is all grossly overpriced and the margins are HUGE when the name brands market hose and fittings to the Gearhead world.

I use Aeroquip and Fragola mostly, Earl's and Russel are also used in small doses. I really like the Fragola stuff though.

I've been using the Summit fittings since they were introduced, no issues; none of my pressures exceed 200 psi. My only complaint is that some of them have metric hex.

I tried Jegs once..........
Yea they made good and gave me credit

All true. I'm not nearly as picky with the small hard parts - adapters, nuts and sleeves, tees, plugs, caps - as I am with the hose and hose ends, other than sticking with known quality brands in the hope that they are paying some attention to their sources for this stuff.

Hose and hose ends are a different story. The commercial AN style hose and fittings are not the same as real aircraft/aerospace hardware with the appropriate specifications and certifications. Not nearly as much money either. And more likely to be imported trash made to look like the good stuff if you're not paying attention.