Youre a better man than me--- I would have never ordered the second set.
Rich Reul
1951 3604
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg St Pierre" <gstpierr@u.washington.edu>
To: "The world's best trucks" <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2000 2:46 PM
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] DON'T BUY HOOKER HEADERS!
> Hello:
>
> I know that my previous dissertation may have seemed harsh to some, but I
> believe it was rightly so. To elaborate on the actual circumstances is a
> bit lengthy, so fair warning to those who weary at long reading.
>
> Set #1: Constant leaking. The header tubes were welded on the gasket
> side of the flange, supposedly "to allow a better bite into the header
> gasket and provide better sealing." This was a reasonable response.
> However, the welds were never ground flat with respect to each port.
> When I layed a straight edge across them, none of them were in line. So
> after several phone calls, I finally convinced the cust service technician
> what the problem was. I sent them back to Hooker, and they ground them
> all flat. Six weeks later, they arrived on my doorstep. After
> reinstallation, they still leaked, even following the reps specific
> instructions. So after several more long distance phone calls, I had to
> ship them back again. Finally they welded the tubes on the outside of the
> flange and the problem was resolved, but it took another six weeks to get
> them back to me. Other than $75 extra for shipping and long distance
> charges, extra gaskets, all the down time for my sole transportation, the
> denial/argumentative attitude and phone tag, I guess it wasn't all that
> bad (scoff!). The new stickers that came each time they shipped the
> headers to me were cool though.
>
> Set #2: Constant leaking, cracking, and rattling. These headers were
> welded the same was as the first set, except this time they were all
> ground flat. The problem this time was the flanges were warped. Even with
> double gaskets, they still leaked. After several phone calls, I finally
> had to ship those back. I did receive a good set after four weeks, but
> they rattled like hell and they only lasted for about 2 weeks. They
> cracked where the supercompetion plaque was spot welded to the tubes.
> After more calls, those went back. Five weeks later, I installed the new
> set they sent me. Two days later, they cracked at the flange. so those
> went back. To make a long story short, this happened three more times.
> They welded the same tube twice and two other twice. The rattle never was
> resolved. So back they went. They welded the rattling tubes together,
> which resulted in cracking at the welds after a few days. Instead of just
> sending me out a new set, they kept fiddling with them. I cannot believe
> the labor and expense they exerted, certainly more than a new set off the
> warehouse shelf! I explained this to the rep and he was almost obnoxious,
> definitely rude. Anyway, I was fed up and gave up. Again, I spent a lot
> of money on shipping and phone calls, had a lot of down time (basically 4
> months) for my only transportation resulting in hardship to get to work,
> and the problem was never resolved. I now run a stock manifold; The
> headers are sitting in a box at my house.
>
> Hooker does not stand behind their motto "The best headers in the world."
> Their headers were poorly engineered in terms of material selection and
> heat treatment and they were poorly designed in terms of wall thickness
> (for supercompetiton label, and I the regular ones were even thinner).
> They were poorly manufactured followed by little or no quality control.
> Outside of the poor customer service relations, the customer service
> representatives were not willing to deal with the situation effectively or
> in a timely manner, which resulted in undue expenses to me, the consumer,
> as well as their own company. In addition, I have discussed similar
> experiences with other hot rod enthusiasts and they also concur that "the
> best headers in the world" is a misnomer and really should be considered
> false advertising. Further more, any company that runs their business
> such that their own employees are (in)directly sabotaging it, deserve what
> it gets, which is certainly neither my hard-earned dollars nor those of
> other enthusiasts.
>
> As a last note, I sincerely hope that if any of you are considering
> headers for your oletrucks (which I am for my 55-2nd) you will seriously
> not consider Hooker. Nuff said?
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Greg St. Pierre
> '55 Task 4x4ce
>
> P.S. I have heard a "good" buzz about Heddman, any responses?
>
>
>
> On Tue, 29 Feb 2000 JMungon@aol.com wrote:
>
> > what was wrong with the hooker headers...give us some details...so we
can
> > compare
> > with other suppliers.....what did they do that cheated you....thanks for
the
> > detailss....
> >
>
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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