18. A look through the Dynaflow muffler provides an unimpeded view. A look down the stock unit revealed nothing but darkness and trapped soot.18. A look through the Dynaflow muffler provides an unimpeded view. A look down the stock 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.19. It's the little things that count. The Banks downpipe on the left features a much more 20. The final touch to the exhaust system was installing this five-inch polished stainless-steel tip.20. The final touch to the exhaust system was installing this five-inch polished stainless 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.21. Here's a look at the new exhaust system in place. The system hangs from all the origin 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.22. The last job to do was install the OttoMind module onto the truck's computer. This req 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.23. With the freshly burned OttoMind module in hand, we went back to the truck and Whitney 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).24. With everything buttoned up, Jane was driven outside and placed back on the chassis dy 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.25. We paused on a mountain pass in the High Sierras on the drive home from L.A. I towed t 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.26. Once back home, Jane was taken out for a little winter 'wheeling. The Banks components Conduit Can-DoMy 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 On the Dyno SOURCES Gale Banks Engineering « | 1 | 2 | 3 | View Full Article By Ned Bacon Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
