Correspondance with Kenne Bell

Ok people well I decided to get the ball rolling again and contact Kenne Bell about my 4.6 liter explorer. I know that their Mustang GT kit will work on my truck with modification but wanted to know from them exactly what it was. They used to offer a kit for the explorer for about 6 months or so and then just took it off their site and never mentioned anything about it again. So here is a copy of my correspondance.






I just noticed that you have the new 2.2 L kit available for the 2V engines now. I have a 2003 4.6 liter V-8 explorer engine with forged/billet internals with all the explorer front drive accessories I am going to put into my vehicle, I want to know if there will be any possible problems with the installation of your 2.2L kit onto this engine. I know this and the regular GT engine are virtually the same but I am curious if you know any differences whatsoever? Thanks.

Robert Watson




sorry we do not sell kits for custom applications




I dont mean to preach here. I follow your company alot. I have contacted you in the past and got comparably the same feeling from your previous responses. You turn out some decent products. I am not a business man yet but I do know a good business opportunity when I see it. Your company is losing alot of ground to other companies like Allen and Whipple due to your lack of enthusiasm and willingness to stand behind your product. I know that there will be no warranty or anything like that if it is a custom application, but your company not even making an attempt to even supply a possible customer with a few mere sentences of helpful knowledge beyond, "sorry we do not sell kits for custom applications", is just unacceptable. It seems like any other company would make the small effort to AT LEAST tell the customer WHY it will not work. Even if it is BS it will still look like an attempt at customer service. It really frustrates me that a company with soo much potential in the aftermarket such as yours will not take the opportunity to accel even further by taking steps towards better customer service. I really dont mean this to come off as hatemail. I just hope it is another step in the eye opening process for you. I am willing to bet that you have probably recieved emails like this in the past. At first it may have come off as just another ignorant gearhead customer, but after a while of getting emails with likewise points such as mine maybe it should give you a hint. There are two basic parts to doing good business. Selling the product and customer service. You may be selling the product now, but you will not for long if you keep driving customers away with your lack of proper customer service. I can see no reason to believe why I would be mistaken in my assessment of your company.

Good day,
Robert Watson




I would tell you why if i knew.
If you want me to guess why, here it goes.
Lets see, the blower is most likely to high and will not fit under the fire wall
Who will do the cold air inlet system properly?
Who would be able to tune it with the new style computer?
fuel system? belt system? these are just a few of the issues that will be encountered.
This infact, is not our business, we have our hands full trying to support the products we do have. There are far to many scenarios out there for us to consider, let alone know all the differences between every car and engine in the world. Nothing is impossible given the fortitude and money to make it happen. I hope this enlightens you to our business philosophy and goals




Thank you. That was all I required. I know you cannot know everything about every engine in the world. My situation was different. First off, you used to offer a kit for my truck specifically. Also my trucks engine is is very very similar to an existing vehicles engine, 99-04 Mustang GT. As for the firewall I can modify that. I have alot of custom fabrication skills neccassary to mock up and fabricate a functional and very attractive CAI. The tune will either be a custom flash tuner. Or if I can swing it I will have a reputable shop run a piggyback mustang GT computer on top of the PTEC computer that will control only the engine itself and be chippable too, unlike the PTEC. Fuel system will be switched out to twin 03 cobra pumps. The belt system I am sure would be a fairly simple job. However I am still questioning whether or not the front drive accessories are the same spacing away from the front of the block as the GT front accessories. The reason I ask if because of the front pulley nosedrive for your GT supercharger head unit. I would not have had any of these questions if you had not previously offered a KB kit for the 02+ V-8 ford explorers. I would imagine that one of the techs down there would have a good idea of what I was talking about. Thanks for your time.




WE HAVE NEVER OFFERED A S/C FOR EXPLORERS WE HAD A PROTOTYPE BUT IT NEVER MADE IT TO PRODUCTION




WOW! You never offered a s/c for explorers but yet your very own site had it listed with a price and everything for about 6 months, maybe more!!!! I dont know about most companies but why would you advertise for something that is not already slated for production? All that had to be done for a market test was go to some of the forums and sites before even advertising it on your site?! I dont mean to bicker and cause a ruckus but it seems that some things were done ass backwards is all. I am just curious as to why?

Robert




COULDNT TELL YOU I JUST WORK HERE

 

[rocket 5979]

As some of you may know I have been on a search to find a good positive displacement supercharger that will be the best fit for my truck and also provide me with boost up to 20+ psi when I want it. Sure, some companies offer Eaton based kits but those offer 6 psi at best. Sorry but that is not even 1/3 of the power I want out of one! I also have been looking at Allen engine Development too lately because of a reccomendation from a fella I dealt with before and know on this site. I also emailed Allen engines and asked them the same question. I got a very positive response. It sounded like they not only backed their product but also knew enough about it and cared enough about the customer, or possible customer, to discuss tech issues with me. Their blower is a Whipple based 2300 AX race kit. It is really not a full kit as it does not come with all the bells and whistles, but it is what I want. I would have replaced the extra crap they would have charged me for and me not used for custom stuff anyways. I am not meaning to pit company against company or vendor bash. Just getting some facts out there for some of you who may have the same ideas as I have. I was planning on going with the KB but now I think I may lean towards the Whipple due to KB's severly lacking customer service. By the way I had emailed and actually called them a year ago about this and I got the same kind of lacking responses then too. So that is why in the second reply I kind of came out of the hole quickly. I hope this helps some of you.

Robert

 

[Hartman]

Customer service is almost non existant when it comes to automotive companies these days.

 

[rocket 5979]

Customer service is almost non existant when it comes to automotive companies these days.

Yes very true, but that is not only unfair but also just bad business too. I know there will not be many repeat customers in the supercharger industry. But customers that were treated like crap and very serious, like the types buying those kits, will get the word out very quickly to their buddies about the company's reputation for being a bunch of lazy simpletons. Sometimes a company that has no one to blame loses ground as a whole because there is no one to point the finger at and tell them to fix it or find another job. So these companies that think they are keeping out of the gunfire by hiding behind their own curtain of BS just really take a direct hit where it hurts most, which is sales. On top of looking like complete dumba$$es. lol

 

[Hartman]

I think that it's because some of these guys have more of an 'automotive' background than a business background. Therefore, they know how to produce a good product but they don't know how to support it properly or handle customers. Most don't understand the basics of economics (obviously!).

 

[typhoon43]

My .02 cents on Kenne Bell

They used to be one of only 2 companies that supplied go-faster parts for my Typhoon, ATR being the other. We Typhoon/Syclone owners are a very tight knit group, considering there's not a lot of them, and the Sy/Ty fprums were always flooded with comments about KB and their business practices. From 1996-1999 I heard pretty much the same thing about KB every week:

"decent products, absolute disregard for the customer".

Just thought I'd let you know that they've had that atitude for almost 10 years that I know if, and it doesn't look like it's going to change.

 

[rocket 5979]

"Just thought I'd let you know that they've had that atitude for almost 10 years that I know if, and it doesn't look like it's going to change."



Yep. And that is why Allen/Whipple are getting my business soon. KB seems like a bunch of gutless pu$$ies who dont know enough to even stand behind their product or even know what it is capable of being used on even if it is not made for it. I mean after all. Wouldnt you try to learn about a possible untapped and basically free market source if all it took to sell some more kits was a little knowledge provided to the customer? Most people know that with a custom fit job there will be simple fabbing needing to be done. But there are alot of people willing to do it even with a kit made for something else but only needing little things changed to make it work for another car. They are taking a big loss in sales to due to their severe lack of knowledge.

 

[james t]

Maybe its just me, but i detected a highly condescending attitude with their replys. Short version- whatta buncha d!cks.

 

[rocket 5979]

Maybe its just me, but i detected a highly condescending attitude with their replys. Short version- whatta buncha d!cks.

Yep. That is also why I jumped their **** so quickly. Those people got to realize that they themselves arent the only cutting edge in engines and technology for them. Alot of development happens on the race scene too. For them to assume that they are talking to a knuckle head or otherwise ignorant person is, and was, a big mistake on their part.

 

[rydinhigh]

I got the same response from FRPP when I was missing parts from my so called "supercharger kit" also there tech advise didn't know anything about the explorer supercharger and were less than willing to help. I will never be buying another supercharger again its either n2o or turbo's for me.

 

[SVO]

Talk with Jim:


http://www.allenengine.com



Tell them, Jeff with Motion Dynamics told you to call.






:navajo:

 

[rocket 5979]

I will never be buying another supercharger again its either n2o or turbo's for me.

I would not go that far! Hell if you think you had a hard time with your supercharger then you best backtrack when thinking of a turbo. lol. Alot more work and tuning involved. Nitrous is the easiest to install then charger then turbo. Besides, it is not like you cannot figure these things out on your own once you get the kit in hand. But it sure does help things out and speed up the process if you know what your getting into before you actually dive face first into it. Warmer more fuzzy feeling if you have a sense that you know exactly what your doing and when your going to do it before investing thousands of dollars.