DK Customs Clean and Cool Oil Filter Relocation and Cooler Add.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

If you are in the Twilight Zone February can have as many days as you want...

Welcome to Al's twilight zone.

Okay ... you guys remember when I told the doc that if something bad only happens to 10% of people, I'd like you to meet mr 10%. That's me.

Just talked to Dwayne at DK, great guy. At first he thought I had the bracket oriented incorrectly which was certainly a possibility. He directed me to minute 12 of the video to look at how that bracket gets oriented.

I hung up, looked at the video and yep, it's mounted in the video just like I have it mounted and as the instructions say.

Called him back, his next thought was that they may have gotten a cooler with different mounting hole dimensions. He's calling his supply area and have them check their cooler mount spans.

He thinks they may have gotten some coolers in that are "off" or a different cooler. Ahhhh ... the joys of being Mr. 10%. He's gonna call me back.

No worries, I am 100% confident that DK Customs will handle it ... and like I told Dwayne, the trike is still perfectly ridable. I have not pulled the filter from the engine yet. The bolts holding the bracket to the rubber clamps may need to be tightened a tad since I just have them snug, but after that, the trike is ready to roll.

I just knew I should of waited for Devin to get here on the 30th ...

Edit: After watching the video again, it sure looks to me like the mounting holes on Kevins cooler are not as far apart as mine. I'm guessing Kevin's supplier sent him a batch of the wrong coolers. JMHO. But, Dwayne is on the case and will let me know ...

[ultrafxr]

Welcome to Al's twilight zone.

Okay ... you guys remember when I told the doc that if something bad only happens to 10% of people, I'd like you to meet mr 10%. That's me.



Just talked to Dwayne at DK, great guy. At first he thought I had the bracket oriented incorrectly which was certainly a possibility. He directed me to minute 12 of the video to look at how that bracket gets oriented.

I hung up, looked at the video and yep, it's mounted in the video just like I have it mounted and as the instructions say.

Called him back, his next thought was that they may have gotten a cooler with different mounting hole dimensions. He's calling his supply area and have them check their cooler mount spans.

He thinks they may have gotten some coolers in that are "off" or a different cooler. Ahhhh ... the joys of being Mr. 10%. He's gonna call me back.

No worries, I am 100% confident that DK Customs will handle it ... and like I told Dwayne, the trike is still perfectly ridable. I have not pulled the filter from the engine yet. The bolts holding the bracket to the rubber clamps may need to be tightened a tad since I just have them snug, but after that, the trike is ready to roll.

I just knew I should of waited for Devin to get here on the 30th ...

Edit: After watching the video again, it sure looks to me like the mounting holes on Kevins cooler are not as far apart as mine. I'm guessing Kevin's supplier sent him a batch of the wrong coolers. JMHO. But, Dwayne is on the case and will let me know ...

Well you're not alone if that helps any. Honestly I kind of dread working on my bikes / trikes because I often encounter something 'unusual' and presents an obstacle. Hope you get it figured out / corrected soon.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I took the bracket off and did these pictures.

This picture shows the orientation I believe both the video and the instructions say it should go.



This picture shows the only other orientation that I can see might work, however, if I mounted it that way, the cooler would be at a pretty sharp angle and would not get the optimum air flow.



I'm gonna send these pictures to Dwayne and see what he thinks.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Got a PM from Kevin, he'd been trying to call me for awhile, but, I have the silence unknown callers turned on my phone and with Kevin loosing his phone in the Mexico robbery, my phone was going to voice mail.

Anyway ... they have figure out the issue ... and it's not Alan ... LOL. I am gonna let him post about it because I'm sure I'll mess up the story, but, let me tell ya, this could of been bad .. for DK. I will say, the story demonstrates that even with the best of intentions, any company can have an oops ... the good ones follow QA principles and

1) find the problem

2) fix the problem

3) prevent the problem from happening again

Kevin has his team in that mindset and everyone I've ever talked to is always extremely nice, knowledgable and their first priority is making the customer happy. After his call, I'm very happy ... ... mostly because I don't have to admit I messed up again ..

Probably why the Fat Bottom Girl sports seven of his products. Probably gonna have an eighth (progressive shocks) as soon as I can save my pennies.

[DK Custom Products]

Ok! Just got off the phone with Alan.

That was after we tracked down what was going on.

Alan has the correct oil cooler. It is the same one we've been using for about 4 years now.

Previous to that we were using a cooler that had the tabs a bit closer together and used a bracket that had the holes closer together.

But for the last 4 years it has been the newer cooler, with an accompanying bracket that fits it.

BUT....we had 75 of the wrong (old) brackets cut in error. Alan got one of them. We immediately went to work tracking down the other 74.

55 of them were in the shop still, waiting to get the air flow holes contoured. 10 more of them were sitting on the shelf, ready to get packaged up. 9 of them were on the shelf ready to ship. So we believe we have identified all 75 of the wrongly cut brackets, with Alan being the only one to have received one.

Many times when we cut a run of something there are a couple of extras cut, so there may be a couple more floating around out there. We are working at contacting recent orders to see if anyone else has one.

While we always strive to never have a stupid mistake like this, we are glad that when we did, Alan was quick to give us feedback.

Otherwise, there would have been a lot more of these shipped out erroneously...and that could have been a big mess.

Fortunately Alan did not have his bike apart, so it did not hold him up. But we are very aware that if this happened to someone that had their bike apart, it could really ruin their day or week.

We are overnight shipping the correct bracket to Alan this afternoon, so he should be able to get his install finished during the nice batch of weather he is having right now.

There really is no excuse for this kind of dumbass mistake we made. Fortunately we don't make them often, AND every-time we have made one we use it as a learning tool to avoid future errors.

We take it very seriously to deliver quality parts, accurately. Nothing is more irritating than making a decision to buy something, taking the bike apart, then realizing you don't have what you need to get it back together.

Thank you to everyone that has trusted us with supplying parts, and we will continue to work diligently at getting quality parts, accurately, and quickly into your hands.

Kevin

[Jack Klarich]

That is exactly the kind of customer service that makes D K Customs stand out in a crowded field

[graygoat]

+1 on what Jack said. DK is top shelf for sure!

[Trampas]

++++ 10 on what Jack and graygoat said, that is good customer service and have heard of his reviews on other web sites not just this one, kudos to Kevin and the people at DK customs

All for now Trampas

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Told ya they are good ... I'm sure Kevin had visions of a big mess when he figured they had cut 75 wrong ... good news ... so far, only mr 10% got a wrong one ... LOL. The better news ... I didn't mess things up ... LOL.

This is why I continue to support DK, they are riders and get how we are ... crazy ...

Anyway, I'm jazzed.

While I was sitting out side picking up the garage a little (no heart attacks please), my buddy Don came by since it was a nice day and we yakked a bit. He said when the new bracket got here, he'd get on the ground so I didn't have to, to run the oil lines ... way kewl, with the new knees, the ground is not my friend. More of a friend then it was before the new knees, but, the ground is still not my favorite place to be.

He's also gonna help with the rocker lockers, not sure I need his help with that, but, another set of hands can't be bad, especially with removing the tank. So, I think that will be all the "installs" before Kerrville, well, except the rake kit and maybe the bars at Randy's shop.

Already saving for some progressive shocks ...

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Correct Bracket came today ... Whoooo Hoooo ... texted Don, looks like Monday or Tuesday for the finish of the install.

Tomorrow is supposed to be high 50's, but, very cloudy. If the clouds are low, we might get rain, if the clouds are high we won't ... If they are high, I'm gonna take advantage of the cloud cover to get the ceramic on the Jeep.

You've seen my garage, no way I can get the Jeep in there to do it. My neighbor said I could use his car port, but, that seems like an imposition, so, I said if I get lots done and it looks like rain, I'd take him up on putting it under there.

This shows the difference in length, the one on the right is correct.



Notice how it lines up with the cooler ... even Alan can't mess that up.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

So today was a 62* day and a little sun mixed with clouds. So, I decided to install the rest of the stuff and route the hoses. Called Don and he didn't want to play ... his loss. He just had sinus surgery and has good days and bad. So, I gathered everything I thought I would need and got down on the ground, hoping to only have to do this once.

Started at the new filter location and ran a hose from from the "out" connection, inside the frame to the outside fitting of the cooler.

Next, ran a hose from the "in" connection of the new filter location to the underside of the cooler and up to the OEM filter location for mounting to the "out" of the filter adapter, when I get it mounted.

I tied all the hoses to the inside of the frame and under the crossmember. I made sure I tied both hoses to the frame on both sides of the lowest part of the engine so the heat wouldn't affect the hoses.

Then I ran a hose from the inside of the cooler to the OEM filter to connect to the "in" connection of the adapter.

I was planning on removing the filter and putting the adapter on when it started raining. Since the trike was still "intact" and could run, I backed it back into the garage and cleaned up the tools and stuff.

Here's how the hoses look at the new filter location.



This is the cooler take from a bottom angle.



This is the cooler from a more top angle.



Kind of tough to get a good picture. Not much room there anymore. If I had to do this again, I would removed the left floorboard and shift arms. Although, you kind of need them there to check for interference.

The only "Alan Mod" I did was to replace the bolts that hold the cooler to the bracket with some 5/16" SS bolts, washers and Nylock nuts. I'm a big fan of nylock and I had a bag of them left over from pool covers.

Assuming the rain stops like they say, around 8pm and it's halfway decent. I will pull the filter, and install the filter adapter and attach the hoses. Gonna be tight with the cooler installed, but, I think I can get it done from the front.

After that, do some testing for leaks, and road test, re torque everything and enjoy the cooler oil.

[ultrafxr]

Looks good Alan.

[Jack Klarich]

Good Job Alan, don't forget to check your oil level after you check for leaks

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I'll loose some when I pull the filter, plus filling the new filter and the hoses, I bought another quart of Red Line and a new filter. I only have about 600 miles on this oil change, so not gonna do a change now.

Of course, after I bought a quart, I found two brand new ones. So, I'm like half way to my next oil change oil wise ...

[MB1953]

You are REALLY going to like that setup. I did it on my '14 (didn't have the issues you did, but created some of my own!) and had many miles of enjoyment until I traded it in on my '17. Still haven't had the opportunity to do the install on that one yet, but it is coming. Best part is when it is time to change the oil and filter!

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Forgot to ask Kevin ... rather than bug them, I'll ask here ... you want the old "wrong" bracket back?

Put it in the trash trailer ... it's in the box it came in so wouldn't be a big deal to get it back out. Let Me know ... guessing not.

[Mykneesbehurtin]

I installed one of these on my 17 and it was pretty straight forward( no oil cooler),i found some covering for the hose.It was a mix of carbon fiber and stainless steel strand to help with any chaffing.So far havent had any leaks and oil changes are a snap.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I installed one of these on my 17 and it was pretty straight forward( no oil cooler),i found some covering for the hose.It was a mix of carbon fiber and stainless steel strand to help with any chaffing.So far havent had any leaks and oil changes are a snap.

I've got a bunch of plastic irrigation black piping/hose, was thinking about running the hose through that along the frame. Still might, moving the hoses from the filter mount would be easy. Maybe heat the irrigation hose with the heat gun and "Oval" it, would be easier to mount and I could use rubber conduit clamps (similar to the cooler mount claps, except oval.

If anyone is curious, I use two 2x4's, put the conduit between them and clamp them together with a couple of spring clamps. I stand it vertically, apply heat to the two open sides of the. 2x54's and as it gets a little warm the spring clamps pull the 2x4's together making oval shaped hose. Just gotta go slow, too fast and you make flat plastic with no inside volume. If I decide to go that route, I'll post pictures. I'm thinking the 1" irrigation ova led a bit will have enough room for both hoses.

It rained pretty much all night here, on and off. The driveway is wet and if I have to get my fat b$tt on the ground, I'd like it to be dry, tomorrow is supposed to be 68* and sunny, one more day won't hurt ... ... funny how fussy we get as we age.

[Mykneesbehurtin]

I've got a bunch of plastic irrigation black piping/hose, was thinking about running the hose through that along the frame. Still might, moving the hoses from the filter mount would be easy. Maybe heat the irrigation hose with the heat gun and "Oval" it, would be easier to mount and I could use rubber conduit clamps (similar to the cooler mount claps, except oval.

If anyone is curious, I use two 2x4's, put the conduit between them and clamp them together with a couple of spring clamps. I stand it vertically, apply heat to the two open sides of the. 2x54's and as it gets a little warm the spring clamps pull the 2x4's together making oval shaped hose. Just gotta go slow, too fast and you make flat plastic with no inside volume. If I decide to go that route, I'll post pictures. I'm thinking the 1" irrigation ova led a bit will have enough room for both hoses.

With the stuff i used i would secure one end with electrical tape then put heat shrink over the tape,stretch it over the hose untill its snug then tape the other end along with heat shrink tubing.So far it's held up very well.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

With the stuff i used i would secure one end with electrical tape then put heat shrink over the tape,stretch it over the hose untill its snug then tape the other end along with heat shrink tubing.So far it's held up very well.

Where did you get it?