Banks Header Quality Control Issues?

G

GraniteCow

NAXJA Forum User
Location
USA
I bought a Banks Revolver Header from Summit and exchanged it because it had multiple defects. Tubes 5 and 6 were cut and welded, but not deburred at the cuts. There were large burrs inside each tube, but they were too far in to reach with a die grinder. The flange was warped ~1mm. The #6 tube on the replacement header was also cut and welded, but was even worse. The tubes were misaligned by almost 2mm at the weld, and the burr inside was at least as large as the burrs on the first header. The flange was warped 1.6mm between cylinders 1 and 5. My straight edge doesn't reach far enough to measure the total warpage. Is something going on with Banks that I should know about? I got two $500 headers in a row with worse quality control than the knockoff headers that are $100 on Amazon. I can't even reach Banks by phone. I don't have time to be on hold for 2 hours when I'm at work. When I messaged them about the first header, I never got a response. It took several tries to get their online form to even work when I contacted them about the second header because the captcha was broken. Currently waiting on a response. Has anyone else had issues with Banks like this? I'm attaching a link to pictures on imgur, hopefully they load here:
https://imgur.com/a/banks
Imgur album
 
Somethings going on, I've bought 2 Revolvers and both didn't have splice in #6 and were great quality. Possibly 2nds or a clone?
 
If you had purchased them from Amazon or ebay I would think they were clones, but coming from Summit they ought to be the real thing. Unless something has changed with Summit. I have been out of the industry for a couple decades, so things could have changed. It will be sad if Summit has stooped that low.

I will be interested in your conclusions after you get whatever form of customer service you do or do not get. If Banks no longer makes a decent header then I don't think there is anyone left for our XJs.
 
RCP Phx said:
Somethings going on, I've bought 2 Revolvers and both didn't have splice in #6 and were great quality. Possibly 2nds or a clone?
Click to expand...
They were drop shipped from Banks in Banks boxes. I messaged both Banks and Summit. Summit’s website allowed me to upload photos, so hopefully there will be some sort of resolution.
 
I bought a used Banks Revolver from Craigslist and its nice. Unfortunately I do not know how old it is. However I have dealt with Summit returns, ironically returning a Hooker Blackheart header that was garbage and did not fit the XJ. Summit was great with the return process, fully reimbursed me, and even provided a free return shipping label. I'm sure they will take care of it.
 
Hooker Blackheart is Holley.

Holley, under Jeff King and Jim Vance, did everything they could to ruin the brands they bought. Kohlberg eventually kicked those clowns out, but not before they had gutted Hooker. I am not surprised to hear the current products are garbage.
 
Update: It's been two months and I still have the defective header. I was communicating with both Summit and Banks via email and stopped getting replies. Banks was supposed to email me a return label for an exchange and never did. I called Summit today and asked if I could just return it for a refund. They said they'll send me a return label. I think it's safe to say that Banks no longer makes a quality header for the 4.0. I guess I'm sticking with my cheap knockoff from Amazon, which is higher quality than the Banks at 1/5th the cost.
 
That's a bummer.

It gets harder and harder to find a decent company. All any of them seem to care about anymore is the immediate profit. Never mind the long term repercussions to the name.
 
Update: I bought a knockoff of the Banks Torque Tube on eBay for $165 shipped. It's an exact clone, but higher quality. Perfect TIG welds, no splices, and the flange is completely straight. 304 stainless too. SMH.
 
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It's bad when the cheap knock-offs are better than the brand name premium quality.

I swear we live in a crazy world.
 
GraniteCow said:
Update: I bought a knockoff of the Banks Torque Tube on eBay for $165 shipped. It's an exact clone, but higher quality. Perfect TIG welds, no splices, and the flange is completely straight. 304 stainless too. SMH.
Click to expand...
A Torque Tube is for a 2000-2001?
 
You realize the 304 is more prone to cracking, that's why Banks use 409!
 
RCP Phx said:
You realize the 304 is more prone to cracking, that's why Banks use 409!
Click to expand...
Interesting! I hadn’t compared them. Looks like 304 is more corrosion resistant but 409 is a bit tougher. It’s interesting that the knockoff is 304 when 304 is more expensive: https://help.summitracing.com/knowledgebase/article/SR-03932/en-us

Maybe 304 is easier to work with? Either way, I’m holding off on buying anything from Banks until I hear they have their quality control back to where it should be. The two headers I received were a solid downgrade from OEM, and their customer support just wasn’t there. Promising a return label, not sending it, then ghosting me is pretty bad. Summit handled the return like true professionals. I’ve already ordered more parts from them.
 
RCP Phx said:
I didnt have to worry about the corrosion as I had mine ceramic coated, I would love to see inside their new product to see what could be done!
https://naxja.org/threads/ceramic-coated-header-and-intake.1162392/
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The link to the photo album on Imgur is in my initial post. It's not populating the photos on here, but the link still works. The burrs on the inside were substantial, and the misalignment at the splice is pronounced. The flange was warped beyond what most people would consider acceptable.
 
GraniteCow said:
Update: It's been two months and I still have the defective header. I was communicating with both Summit and Banks via email and stopped getting replies. Banks was supposed to email me a return label for an exchange and never did. I called Summit today and asked if I could just return it for a refund. They said they'll send me a return label. I think it's safe to say that Banks no longer makes a quality header for the 4.0. I guess I'm sticking with my cheap knockoff from Amazon, which is higher quality than the Banks at 1/5th the cost.
Click to expand...
I just bought a Banks Revolver, all one-piece primaries & appears to be good quality. . . .
 
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