Banks Power Pack System

[jinx46@hotmail.com]

Last month I inquired about the Banks for my '06 V-10. The tech told me he would probably get fired for telling me but it would not make that much of a difference for my rig. He said it made a world of difference for trucks pulling trailers etc though.

I have an 05 Georgetown with the triton V10. I had the Banks installed last year and am quite impressed with the performance. The motor runs quiet and the performance in the hills is awesome.

[alsmith_2002@hotmail.com]

We had the Banks systems installed on our 2000 Bounder, and were elated with the performance. I regret not having that coach anymore....

[dbelanger]

Own a 2007 Pace Arrow 36' with the V10. Had a 2000 HR Vacationer 36', it also had a V10 with less Horsepower and better mileage. Tow vehicle for the HR and at the beginning with the Pace Arrow was a 4000 Lb Suzuki XL-7 and I could get 10 MPG with the HR if I drove the speed limit and avoided hills. Did the math on the Banks System and decided I could live with the long slow hill climbs. After trading for my new coach I had it weighed with me, a full water, gas, and Propane tanks and the Suzuki in tow. The combined vehicle weight limit for my Pace Arrow is 26,000 Lbs. My weight was 25,500 Lbs. and that was without the usual cargo we carry to our winter home. I traded my wife's old Pontiac for a Ford Focus 2500 Lbs. curb weight. Mileage with or without the Focus in tow is 8 Mpg with much better hill climbing speed available. Anyone towing a large SUV with a large gas motorhome is overweight right out of the dealers lot. I also save lots of greenbacks at 36 Mpg highway with the Focus (Stick Shift). I think buying the small car, which is usefull every day, is a better investment than the performance exhaust system and, buy the way, the 07 Ford exhaust sounds great compared to the older 2000 chasis system.

[Rbuzz95]

My origional message has been lost in the title Banks Power System...their system works but not as much as they claim. Next point: their system consists of a set of headers, a free flow muffler, a K&N air cleaner.....that's it folks. Now don't believe me go to any speed shop and buy a set of headers designed to create torque not max Horsepower. $300 will buy an excellent set, next buy a free flow muffler any muffler shop will explain this to you and quote a price of $125.00 then go down the street to your favorite auto supply store and get a K&N air cleaner for your engine for $50 . Now add this all up and you get $475.00 dollars. Go to your favorite muffler shop and have this stuff installed for $200 and now you have $675.00 and you have BINGO a Banks Power System.

I'm excited for you if you love your $3000.00 system and love the sound, and the economy, and the hill climing power, and your dog even quit druling on your carpet after you had it installed....but you bought a set of headers, a muffler, and a K&N air cleaner. Now if your MH doesn't burn gas we got a whole different equation...but before you dump the big bucks go to a Big Truck Dealer and talk about your engine and options they might offer. Shop around - talk to people in the performance business.

Good luck....rbuz

[Guest 2driftrs]

You make a good point about cost, but consider these other factors - - the Banks system is all stainless steel, so rust isn't a problem. The system on our 2000 Georgie Boy is 10 years old and as clean as the day it was installed. Also, the Banks system is designed for the particular rig you're buying it for, so you're far less likely to run into snags, like no connecting point for the oxygen sensors. And then there's more little details like heat shrouds, etc.

We installed the Banks system because the Ford F53 chassis with the V-10 was horribly lacking in hill climbing power. We were doing lots of PA mountain climbing and having the rig drop down from 4th to 3rd and even 2nd gear was pitiful. The Banks let us pull most hills in 4th, with some where it dropped into 3rd, all while towing our 2000 Jeep.

The Banks gave us about a 10% gain in mpg. Over the life of the rig, that will more than offset the cost of the Banks system. But most important is wear and tear. When you're climbing hills and your rig drops down a couple of gears, your engine revs go through the roof. In 4th gear, pulling an I81 hill in PA, we're turning 2600 RPM with the Banks system. Before Banks, the rig would drop to 2nd gear and crank over 4200 RPM. That's an awful lot of revs per mile, and an awful lot of engine stress.

PS, I don't work for or represent Banks - - they just make a good system that I recommend to anyone that asks.

[DavidnDerita]

We have a 2007 Adventurer with the GM 8.1 Vortec engine and we wanted more power when towing and when traveling in hilly or mountainous country. We had The Banks Performance system installed about six months ago and the difference in power is really remarkable. Hills that we used to climb in 4th gear at 40-45 mph we now climb 10-15 mph faster and one gear higher. An unanticipated benefit is a 1.0 - 1.5 mpg increase in mileage. Mileage when towing averaged in the neighborhood of 6.8 - 7.6 mpg. Now we routinely average 8.0-8.9 mpg. in hilly (not mountainous) terrain.

[cmipilot@dghyde.com]

What ARE your before and after MPG's-- I assume these were averages over several tanks and under similar driving conditions?

You say the power is simply amazing. By chance did you do any timed zero to highway speed before and after?

In general, older engines experiences more improvement by tuning such as Banks. In more recent times, the chassis makers have done quite a lot better job of tuning intake and exhaust right from the factory.

Thanks. FACTS are scarce here.

Brett Wolfe

I have a friend who has a coach built on the same chassis I have, the V10 Ford, E450. He raved about the Banks system and since I trust his opinion, decided to go ahead with a purchase. I bought a Scan Guage system and installed it before my trip to Azusa from Dallas. On I-10, driving very conservatively, specifically to lay down a good baseline of data, between 60 and 62 miles per hour, pulling a 4000 pound Acura 3.2 TLS on a 1000 pound Demco tow dolly, the Scan Guage, which reads parameters directly from the OBD-II port, showed 8.0 miles per gallon average. Banks advertises a 7% fuel mileage improvement, or about half a mile per gallon. On the return trip to Dallas, I saw 9.7 to 10.0 consistently. The math shows that to be 20% or better.

No zero to highway times but 6% grades going west pulling 5000 pounds were a strain and 45 mph was iffy. Coming back east, 55 mph up the grades east of El Paso were not a problem. Subjectively, the seat-of-the-pants acceleration improvement was noticeable, even by the co-pilot who usually doesn't give a rip about such things.

I try to be as objective as possible in these type of discussions, and I do know that the tendency may be to try to pump the results a bit. Not the case at all here. I will say that based on other discussions I've had with Banks users, I wouldn't have anyone but the factory try to do the install.