18. A look through the Dynaflow...
18. A look through the Dynaflow muffler provides an unimpeded view. A look down the stock unit revealed nothing but darkness and trapped soot.
19. It's the little things...
19. It's the little things that count. The Banks downpipe on the left features a much more gradual bend and 3.5 inches of diameter versus the wimpy 3-inch OE piece on the right.
20. The final touch to the...
20. The final touch to the exhaust system was installing this five-inch polished stainless-steel tip.
21. Here's a look at the new...
21. Here's a look at the new exhaust system in place. The system hangs from all the original hangers and nothing drops lower than stock. Some cutting had to be done to the center pipe section to get the correct length for Jane's single cab-one of a rare breed these days. Moreover, the guys in the shop said they had never installed an exhaust on a single-cab truck. It should be noted that other than this slight modification, none of the Banks parts used during this installation required any cussing, fussing, cutting, pounding, or fighting to get them to fit.
22. The last job to do was...
22. The last job to do was install the OttoMind module onto the truck's computer. This required a walk over to another building full of computers instead of tools, hoists, and the sound of air guns. Here, at this computer, Jane's catch code was looked up on the chart at left. A blank chip was fitted into the black box on top of the computer terminal. The code was punched into the keyboard and the danged thing burned us the proper OttoMind chip that could interface with Jane's OE build characteristics and her newly installed Banks PowerPack system.
23. With the freshly burned...
23. With the freshly burned OttoMind module in hand, we went back to the truck and Whitney removed Jane's brain from the left kick-panel near the parking brake. After some modifying of the plastic cover and cleaning of some terminals, which required opening up the magic box, the OttoMind module plugged right into the side of the brain. Here it stays, held on by a piece of tape.
24. With everything buttoned...
24. With everything buttoned up, Jane was driven outside and placed back on the chassis dyno. This time, a container holding 150 gallons of water (1,200 pounds) had to be placed in her bed. The weight was needed because, empty, with the Banks PowerPack installed, the truck would just haze its tires on the rollers and no readings could be recorded. So what were the final results? How about 294 hp (an 80hp gain) and a whopping 660 lb-ft of torque (a 201 lb-ft gain).
25. We paused on a mountain...
25. We paused on a mountain pass in the High Sierras on the drive home from L.A. I towed the trailer down there with a car in it to get around in during Jane's three-day stay at Banks. Pulling the 6,500-pound trailer up the mountain required less effort than the trip down had with the stock truck. No more downshifting to Fifth gear on every little hill. Only two 8,000-plus-foot passes required a downshift.
26. Once back home, Jane was...
26. Once back home, Jane was taken out for a little winter 'wheeling. The Banks components did not affect her crawlability at all. Around town, driveability also remains unchanged. You can't really tell anything is different until you tip into the throttle a bit and the torque starts building. Then it just starts pulling like a train.
Conduit Can-Do
My neighbor, who owns a large construction company, recently purchased a new Chevy HD crew cab with a DuraMax diesel and Allison automatic trans. We were curious how the Banks-modified Ford and the stock Chevy would stack up against each other. To find out, we loaded a 6,000-pound trailer with three pallets of conduit. The trailer rolled over the scales at 10,800 pounds. We towed it to a nearby 7-percent hill early one morning before traffic got heavy. Attaching the trailer to each of the trucks, we conducted pull tests up the hill, first from a dead-stop at the bottom, and then with a running quarter-mile start. The entire hill is about a mile long. The results:
Dead-Stop:
Ford: 1 min., 25 sec. @ 66 mph over the top.
Chevy: 1 min., 29 sec. @ 53 mph over the top.
Rolling Start:
Ford: 72 mph at bottom of hill, 67 mph over the top.
Chevy: 65 mph at bottom of hill, 56 mph over the top.
| POWER GAINS |
| Stock | Power Pack |
| Peak HP | 214 @ 2,600 rpm | 294 @ 2,600 rpm |
| Best Gain | | 80 @ 2,600 rpm |
| Peak Torque | 463 @ 1,800 rpm | 660 @ 2,000 rpm |
| Best Gain | | 201 @ 2,000 rpm |