Circle D & Kooks LT

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HammerHead

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OK gentlemen, this will be a thread about my experience with the Circle D torque Converter and Kook`s headers. I will try and cover everything in detail, packaging, quality, instalation and performance. The TQ I will not be installing myself, if I had access to a lift I would but I was under the truck and decided not to. Found a shop next to work that will do it for $400 this coming Tuesday.

First thing is pakaging; the Circle D came with heavy duty foam padding on all 4 sides, Beer quzie and bolts.I am very impressed with the pakaging.
The Kooks pakaging not so good, the headers and mid pipe came in 2 separate boxes, both the headers and mid pipe pieces were only wrapped in paper, no padding at all. Something to consider.
Next would be the visual inspection; Circle D is absolutely beautiful, very well made. You can tell its custom hand made Multi Disc. Very impressed, hope it performs as well as it looks.
Kooks not so much, honestly very disappointed. Maybe it's because I was a certified welder 20 years ago but not impressed. Every primary has marks on them from the bending process, like they didn't use enough padding while they were bending them. If my truck was a show truck these headers would be going back to Kooks. The welds were the primary meet the heads at the engine are average at best. The the exhaust gas transition from the engine heads into the headers is not smooth, they left a little lip on the inside of the primarys.
I hope they perform Much better than they look.
The Kooks will be ceramic coated before there installed.
Over all I'm very excited my 2013 RCSB is getting a shot in the arm but I do want to give a fair review on all aspects.
 

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02ramboi

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Nice good write up. I want to eventually got some headers for mines. After there installed let me know how the gas milage and throttle response is better or same


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HammerHead

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Nice good write up. I want to eventually got some headers for mines. After there installed let me know how the gas milage and throttle response is better or same


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The throttle response is something I can Try and articulate but the gas milage I cannot because of the Torque Converter. High stall TQ usually reduce gas milage but I have no personal experience. I will report everything I can.
 
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HammerHead

HammerHead

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Scratch marks on the primarys, hard to see in the pic but ruff when you run your fingers them.
 

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HammerHead

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Lip on the inside of the primarys, not all of them have a lip but you can see the two in the pic do. Maybe that's normal but not a quality job in my opinion.
 

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HammerHead

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Despite the imperfections I'm looking forward to running these headers. Sending them out this week to get coated. But first my 3400 stall is going in tomorrow :favorites13:
 

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Pull Ya

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I think most of us agree that the ARH are the "best"(and most expensive of course) long tubes, but I guess I'm a little disappointed in the Kooks. I was under the impression that the quality would have been better. I hope they work out for you. Anxious to hear about how you like the new TC. Should be a "blast" off the line.
Jay
 

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I think most of us agree that the ARH are the "best"(and most expensive of course) long tubes, but I guess I'm a little disappointed in the Kooks. I was under the impression that the quality would have been better. I hope they work out for you. Anxious to hear about how you like the new TC. Should be a "blast" off the line.
Jay

I've asked around on the ARH headers but never got an answer or just missed the response, but maybe you know....
I'm wondering if the ARH headers come together at the collector in a order of firing order in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion... To me this would be the only difference in the ARH vs Kooks that would lead me one way or the other... Kooks are a great product but sad to read some not so good quality.

But @HammerHead it's not just cause you are a welder, I am a novice/amature welder fabricator at best and I am that picky also.... I see quality or lack there up better than I think I can produce it myself...
 

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Can't answer your question about the ARH. Maybe Matt can.
Jay
 
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I think most of us agree that the ARH are the "best"(and most expensive of course) long tubes, but I guess I'm a little disappointed in the Kooks. I was under the impression that the quality would have been better. I hope they work out for you. Anxious to hear about how you like the new TC. Should be a "blast" off the line.
Jay

The minor imperfections aren't a deal breaker for me; its going to be fitment. I know they will perform better than what I have now (stock log header) LOL.
But being able to bolt the system to the truck in my garage is the most important thing for me.

I've asked around on the ARH headers but never got an answer or just missed the response, but maybe you know....
I'm wondering if the ARH headers come together at the collector in a order of firing order in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion... To me this would be the only difference in the ARH vs Kooks that would lead me one way or the other... Kooks are a great product but sad to read some not so good quality.

But @HammerHead it's not just cause you are a welder, I am a novice/amature welder fabricator at best and I am that picky also.... I see quality or lack there up better than I think I can produce it myself...

I have no idea about the clockwise vs. counter clockwise; anyone know the difference? Or the importance between to two?
 

BackCountryAK

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I always thought the Kooks were equal length headers for the ram. Curious about the firing order too.
BTW,even my Stainless Works headers did not have flawless welds, but I'm picky too, especially when we're paying this kind of money for headers. Nonetheless, I was happy with the fitment and performance and in reality my pickiness for the welds was insignificant in the end.
 

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I went with a set of ARH stainless longtubes and catless y-pipe and am very happy with them, had Jethot ceramic coat them too, so they look great!
 
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HammerHead

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Torque Converter threw code "P0740 Torque Converter Clutch Sole" one mile from shop :puke:
Emailed Chris and waiting to hear back... Hope It's SOMETHING minor; I'll keep yall posted.
 
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HammerHead

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Cleared code with my T1000, drove 20 miles home and code did not come back. Hopefully it stays gone, I did not WOT on the way home. Just took it easy. Can't belive how different my truck feels. Looking forward to testing it out.
 
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HammerHead

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Heard back from Chris and he said it was a tuning issue. Just waiting to hear back from my tuner Jay; trying to stay optimistic, but coming into work the code came back and about 5 minute after that cruzing about 60 MPH it slammed. Not sure if it slammed into gear but it slammed so hard it scared the heck out of me, honestly I’m a little scared it might cause damage to the tranny. Trying not to jump to any conclusion but this is what I’m dealing with. Hope this works out; been dreaming and reasserting TQ’s for years (literally) trying to decide what’s best.
 
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HammerHead

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Guess it's time for an update, and to be honest I'd rather not due to it being bad news. But it might save someone some $$$ and frustration.

Circle D Multi Disc 3200-3400 stall, $1200 dollars:
First thing is Chris was a stand up guy and gave me a full refund of $1200, but I had to eat the install fee $400 and uninstall fee $400 and shipping both ways put me at $900+.
One mile from the shop it threw a code that would never go away.
In park or neutral it sounded like it was chewing on marbles.
Under light throttle it would slam Very hard followed by a loud screeching noise.
It would stall at 2700 RPM`S at about 50-70% holding capacity and would barley squrk the tires. 3400 stall and 410 gears on street tires I fell it should melt the tires.
It was in my truck 8 days before it went back. Overall bummed out.

Kook`s headers, $1700 headers + $600 ceramic coating + $170 shipping + $400 in tools:
First thing would be Jet-Hot quoted me $350, then after they got the headers they sent me an email and jacked the price to $600. I called and they just gave me the run-a-round and put the blame on me. But, I had already shipped them to Oklahoma sooooo I just ate the bill. The quality of coating seems Very Good, they did an amazing job and it cleaned up the imperfections stated in my earlier posts.
The Kook`s headers went on like a breeze, No clearance issues, dident need to unbolt stering shaft, no zip tie this or bend that. Perfect Fit.
Now the Mid Pipe; what a nightmare. Had to take it out 2 times and finally had to cut a piece to get it to fit. It has 2 bad leaks, both where the header and mid pipe meet, the clamps are not capable of a tight seal.
It Loud.... LOL. I have the spintech 9000 and now with the headers it way to loud. Stock manifolds it had a nice rumble, now with the headers it very raspy. Over the top raspy. So I'll have to get a bigger muffler to tone it down.
So considering the overall cost and 15 hours of install time I'm disappointed that the system leaks like a civ.
I honestly feel very stupid, did tones for research, read every post possible, YouTube videos and articles online and I'm pushing 4k with no positive results.
 

12sportmc

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That sucks man. But thank you for an honest post and review. Definitely will save others time and money


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HammerHead

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Ok now that I got the bad news out of the way, let's get constructive.
The kooks hardware included stage 8 bolts, o2 extensions and good quality multi layer steel gaskets.

Must have tools Tools:
Sawzaw, made getting the stock mid pipe out a breeze. If you don't have one you will need to drop the tranny support member to get the stocker mid pipe out. Get more than one cutting blade, I went through 4.
PB penetrating oil is a must have, soaked everything the night before and during the removal process. Worked really good.
1/4 socket set with 1/4 drive, made getting the old header bolts out very easy due to the small size.
If you have a broken header bolt I recommend the Irwin Hanson 35 piece extractor set, work well for me.
Klutch wrenches, that little 7/16 is a Must Have when installing the new headers. See pic.
Very Important: if you have a broken header bolt that's on the bottom row you Will need a 90 degree drill. I got lucky and mine was on the top row, but still had to use my small 12v drill to get straight on the broken head bolt. Full size drill will not work.

O2 extension: I know I'm the only one that ever had a left over o2 extension. 4 come with the kit, 2 short, 2 long. Use the 2 short o2 on the drive side of the wiring harness and the other 2 on the passenger side. I thought I got the o2 mixed up but no code, so I got one left over. One of the plugs on the passenger I dident need, the rear stock o2 was long enough.

Stage 8 bolts: Good quality. Dident use the retainers or c-clips because the c-clips would spin freely after install. Don't want any false knock because the clips was not tight.

Dipstick Tube: Cut the upper bracket off and it will work with a little elbows grease. Wasn't that bad for me.

Side Note: Be sure to mark the wiring harness with some tape or string or whatever you want so you know the difference between the front and back o2. There was about 12 hours in between unplugging the old o2 and plugging them back in so I forgot. Got lucky on the re-install, hence my extra o2 extension. LOL......
 

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Pull Ya

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Does your total cost include the beer????? Sounds like not a very fun couple of projects. I went with an Edge 2600-2800 in my '13 and it was golden. Sorry you had so much trouble. Mine made a real difference in the acceleration and I had 3.92's, with your 4.10's it would have been really strong. Did you decide to weld your Y pipe to get rid of the leaks?
Jay
 
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HammerHead

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Does your total cost include the beer????? Sounds like not a very fun couple of projects. I went with an Edge 2600-2800 in my '13 and it was golden. Sorry you had so much trouble. Mine made a real difference in the acceleration and I had 3.92's, with your 4.10's it would have been really strong. Did you decide to weld your Y pipe to get rid of the leaks?
Jay

Unfortunately I can't weld the Y pipe because while my headers were at Jet Hot getting coated I found out I have to move to a emissions compliant county. So my cat less Y pipe will need to come out and swapped with the cated Y pipe to pass emissions. Right now I have no solution and very open to suggestions.
 
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