dark horse performance....... opinnions?

I bought a t 56 crossmember from them and was very pleased with its adjustability. The owner is always avalible to talk to his customers which is a big plus when you are working with the unknown. He knows his stuff and will answer your questions or look into it and call you back.

I got a T-5 xmember from him a few years ago. No issues.

There's two Dark Horses I know of: Dark Horse Racing http://www.darkhorseracing.net/ and Dark Horse Performance http://www.darkhorseperformance.com/.

I bought a McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing kit from Dark Horse Performance. The slave cylinder leaked from the gun. I believe the cause was the RAM pressure plate I was running, because I put in a McLeod pressure plate and put new seals in the slave cylinder and it has worked fine so far, about 300 miles in. But I do not approve of Dark Horse's response.

I installed the kit and first pump on the pedal with the bleeder closed, the slave cylinder leaked. As far as I could tell there was no movement of the piston; all the pressure was escaping through the leak. I called Dark Horse for help. I got an answering machine. Left a message. No return call. Repeated the process over the course of a week. Finally got a return call, and was told the owners had gone on vacation to Hawaii for a week or two and had closed the shop. It would be best if they'd arrange for someone to handle the phone messages. It shows a verrry low regard for customer service not to do so.

The lady I spoke to was real nice but had no clue regarding the merchandise. She also made what I consider an outrageous statement for a retailer: "People don't realize, we just sell this stuff. If people have a problem they need to contact the manufacturer." She said it like we should both share a chuckle over those poor benighted customers who expect a retailer to stand behind its products.

She said the guy in the shop who knows the tech would call me back. He never did.

This stuff ain't cheap: $449.00 for the TO bearing, JMC MC, a hose, and some spacers. I also ordered an additional TO bearing for service down the road, which added about $60 to the package. They were into me for $500+ all in. To me that's top drawer money for such simple little items.

Luckily McLeod ships the TO bearing with a seal rebuild kit. So I installed the new seals and a new McLeod clutch and PP and hoped for the best. So far so good.

It would be hard to imagine a worse retailer than what I experienced: no one to answer the phone for more than a week, no return call from the tech guy, and an attitude that "we only sell this stuff; whether it works or not is not our problem."

Given the many other retailers of tranny swap kits I certainly would not go to Dark Horse Performance for a major system. You're talking major, major money for a turnkey swap kit. I would expect major, major customer service in return. I would not expect to get it from Dark Horse Performance. On the other hand, if you live nearby and you're able to deal face to face with them, and/or have no problems, you may do fine if you decide to go with them.

I used to work at a speed shop in Renton, and we would get stuff from them on a semi reg basis, and no issues. Never got full kits of anything though, usaly just misc parts and pieces that we needed that day

Johnpro over at the VMF seems to recommend them as he's used their kit and is happy with it. I have purchased a few items from them (T5 yoke is quite a bit cheaper than some of the other vendors), and have been happy each time.
Daniel

Their T5/TKO crossmembers do NOT put the engine at the correct angle.

We argued on the phone for an hour with the owner about this for my '67 fastback. The engine angle was so severe the standard clutch linkage wouldn't work without binding.

It can be resolved with a 3/4" spacer and cutting of the tunnel for clearance (I also have a TKO), however they will insist it will "work" as you bolt the parts in without any clearancing. Trust me, it won't.

I bought my shortened input shaft for my Tremec 3550 and their crossmember, I agree its not the correct angle, however, I have experienced no problems with my stock clutch linkage because of it.

Over the summer I purchased an auto to TKO-600 swap from Darkhorse. Everything came quickly and all of the items were in the boxes. I would order from them again.

coolblue65 said:

I bought my shortened input shaft for my Tremec 3550 and their crossmember, I agree its not the correct angle, however, I have experienced no problems with my stock clutch linkage because of it.

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I agree. I bought their Tremec TKO kit off of another forum member and everything bolted in perfectly and I've experience no problems with my stock clutch linkage at all. This was the single best mod I've done to my car yet.