Jim,

I told Jim Bell that from now on I wasen't going to install the Phenolic Spacer on the Kenne Bell's. I am going to stick to my word for a couple different reasons. I don't want to give him any excuse to void warranties on the KB's. Jim had told me on the phone that he wanted nothing hanging off his supercharger. He even mentioned specifically the JLP tensioner and supercharger pullies other than his. He also added that he did not want the supercharger spun past 18,000 RPM's. We have over 30 KB's with the Phenolic Spacer on them. One truck had an issue with the bolts being a little too long. There are no clearence problems as you know and it does help with heat as you also know. I honestly don't know what to think anymore because Jim Bell says one thing to me but yet his "certified" dealer and installer JLP is selling aftermarket pullies, and Metco (JLP) belt tensionars. I've seen the pulley combination on both JL's truck and Charlie's truck and they are spinning the blower past 18,000 RPMs. If his "certified" dealer and installer is doing this why can't the rest of the Lightning community do this? The Kenne Bell owners should make sure Jim Bell clearifies what they can and cannot do becuase if you go by what JLP is doing, according to what Jim Bell told me he will void all of JL's customer's warranties. In a sense I don't know what to tell you because Kenne Bell says one thing and JLP says another.

Jim@JDM

 

Probably be more efficient to call or email him rather than posting it on the forum.

 

Blown318, the only way is to call them. I received a similar request last fall that Jim wanted to talk to me. I PM'd back and never received a response, then was told that I had to call. I rarely use phones, so didn't follow up, neither did they, so nothing came out of it.

 

I believe that JLP is allowed to run whatever pulley/idler setup they want because it only furthers the R&D portion of the KB project. If it turns out the 10 rib setup has no adverse affects on the KB unit, then you will see JLP selling them to the public and KB will stand behind them.

As it stands now, it looks like KB and JLP have a great association, while others were trying to bring aftermarket superchargers to market, KB and JLP worked very closely to get the KB blower done right and perform, now all that hard work is paying off not only for JLP customers, but for any owner that decides to run that blower. Where would your 10 sec customers be without that blower and the time and research by JLP and KB that went into it??

How do you know something will or will not work unless you R&D it yourself? Its alot better than having hundreds of customers realize that your pulley setup is impossible to get off without destroying said setup. Right?

02

 

How do you even know that?

Another post of useless information, not backed by fact.

I'm not downing anyone, but "arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics - If you win, you're still retarded."

Quit the bickering, and wait until facts are laid out. If JL wants to tell the world he is doing R&D for KB, he'll let us know.

I HATE it when people throw their 2 cents in, and know NOTHING for fact. This is what gets these threads into trouble.

YMMV, JMHO, KMA

 

I have read this in numerous posts including, as I recall, posts by JLP.
You want to bitch about what other people say on the board and then you come out and say something as offensive as this. I am pretty sure that is the definition of hypocrisy.

-Don

 

Someone please answer my question-

Every time a KB post comes up, the JDM camp is always there piping in with comments about how or why they do things in reference to KB purchases/installs.

IS JDM A DISTRIBUTOR OF, OR IN ANY WAY ASSOCIATED IN BUSINESS DEALINGS WITH KB?????

 

Yes he is a Distributor of KB, I just dont think he is a Authorized Distributor. What exactly a Authorized KB distributor means is a different story. I can buy a Sony TV from Walmart but they arent a authorized distributor, If my TV craps out, it still goes to Sony Service to be fixed, the same goes for these Blowers. To my knowledge JLP doesnt fix them, He sends them to KB to be fixed, this is the same thing JDM does. I think Kenne Bell needs to come in here and explain what the advantages are of a authorized distributor over a non authorized distributor. I think KBs post here was to do nothing but make Jim look bad, he only a portion of his and Jims conversation and didnt tell whatever him and Jim spoke about in regards to Metco Pullies or 10 rib belts. In my eyes, this post is just a continueing pissing match between JLP and JDM. He did the same thing on another forum regarding the Famous ****, He was welcomed and asked valid questions. He never returned to answer the questions. If this person really is Kenne Bell it seems he is being puppeted by JLP against the people who battle JLP on these forums.

 

Black Market = Illegal... guns, drugs, etc.
White market = Normal, legal, authorized selling relationships
Gray market = Selling products that you are not authorized to sell. Generally the products for resale are obtained through 3rd parties soas to defeat the authorization process.

I very highly doubt walmart is gray marketing sony products. If sony has a system for becoming an authorized reseller, walmart has done it at some level. If a customer returns a product that was purchased gray market, the retailer generally has no recourse to return it. I can't imagine walmart doing that type of biz, but I could be wrong.

Hewlett Packard/Compaq are examples of tightly controlled authorization processes. There are gray marketers of these products, but getting any warranty repair is a major concern, if not impossible... I worked for an HP authorized reseller and it was really quite a bit of work to become authorized...

I would think you run a great risk not being able to get your KB warrantied if it fails and it is determined to have been bought through non-authorized channels.

Basically JDM is gray marketing KBs. The extent to which KB is willing to overlook that issue and still warranty the product is not known at this point, is it? Have any of Jims customers had a KB failure? If so, how did it get warrantied? If it was sent back, you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar it went right back through the same change of hands it was purchased from to be sure the warranty remained intact....

 

Ken800,

We do not buy KB's direct from Kenne Bell. Our customers purchase them themselves. We have installed approximately 35-40 of them. We are simply the best Lightning and Cobra tuner for the Kenne Bell's on the market today. That's been proven numerous times. I've spoken to Jim Bell many of times and he has no problems with the customers purchasing the blower and us doing the tuning. We make his blower look good. We are the only ones in the country that have 10 second daily driven Cobra's and Lightnings with no nitrous. The reason that I am making this bold statememnt is not only is it a fact but I'm also sick and tired of the JLP camp whining to Jim bell. He (Johnny) thinks because we install Kenne Bell's and tune towards them he's not getting that customer. We have had a few failures and Kenne Bell warrantied them immediately for our customers. We have also stayed within the guidelines that Jim Bell told me. Maybe JLP can do whatever he likes to the superchargers such as 10 rib pulleys, idler brackets and get away from the warranty issue because he works so closely with Jim Bell. We just have the ability to meet our customer's goals without putting the 10 rib pulleys on and the idler brackets which we have simply found no benefit for anyway. This has turned into a childish game. Since JLP says he has the right to post for Kenne Bell maybe he is the originator of this post.

Jim@JDM

 

Thanks Ken, You really said what I was trying to say, I just used a crappy example.

Also what I was reading between the lines Jim.



UEKILTNDIDITHGUOHTUOYDNAMIJEES

 

U gonna have'm tune your truck?

 

Daaammmnnn. I hate to see it when you really decide to "down" someone.

 

Not too sure who to respond to, Justin (your username) or Jim (you signed the post), but here it goes.

JLP is pushing the envelope when it comes to parts that are unique to the KB. Everyone, and I mean everyone benefits from the JLP R&D, and if the 10 rib pulley design turns out to be beneficial to a future mid to low 10 second truck, then you will see people either buying them from JLP or making their own.


There are a few of your higher profile customers that havent met their goals (HD's mid to low 10's no juice and 9's with juice comes to mind), so with that in mind, what if you decide down the road towards their goals, that you need a better pulley setup? Maybe a 10 rib, or idler system that helps with belt wrap? Then will you think it was a good idea?

You see Jim, there is a reason that JLP is using that setup, and its because they are running mid 10's already, not high 10's, and they are shooting for more, and that means solving the problems that MID 10 second trucks can have pushing lots of boost with no nitrous.

Thats a bold statement and I think its a very innacurate one to boot. There are plenty of 10 second trucks and cobra's that you know nothing about. They dont post, they dont care and they just love to race, so just because they arent on the internet, it doesnt mean they arent there.

The recent ****y attitude from JDM, especially from Justin lately has really turned alot of people off. I congratulate you on your customers accomplishments, they have spent a bunch of money and they deserve it, but dont get too carried away by what has transpired in the past couple of weeks, because guys like JL and Sal are hard at work developing and testing new products that you think arent beneficial, but those products very well may hold the key to the next step in performance for these trucks.

There is a difference between running a 10.80 and a 10.40. A huge difference.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

 

No need to respond to my post. It was not an attack. I talked to KB also quite some time ago. They are fine with anyone installing and tuning a KB on the vehicle and they will warranty it. This was when I first started looking into the the KB and was going to buy and build a motor. My point was to clear up the statement made by bigfan and define exactly what gray market is and how warranties can come into question when that occurs. It has been stated in the past that you bought KBs through a 3rd party in the past. If you haven't, fine. If you have, that's fine too. I don't really care either way. I worked for a company for 10 years that gray marketed semiconductors. We had to honor the mfrs. warranty, though, if anything failed which is pretty much going to be the case for any manufacturer unless they are willing to look the othe way... If you haven't resold any KBs then there is no gray marketing. Just tuning. BTW, why not just become a dealer and end the confusion?