Banks Air Intake and Headers
- Thread starter RichF
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Since a gas motor is nothing more than a big air pump, doing one without the other would probably be a big waste of time and money.
Banks makes a lot of stuff. Most of it is overpriced and over hyped IMHO. Start with a trip to the weight scales for some accurate weight numbers. Then put yourself on a diet and see what that gains you first. And yes, I mean the MH not you personally. Lastly, change all the fluids to full synthetic. I think you will see as much of a gain by doing that as adding three grand worth of Banks stuff.
Banks makes a lot of stuff. Most of it is overpriced and over hyped IMHO. Start with a trip to the weight scales for some accurate weight numbers. Then put yourself on a diet and see what that gains you first. And yes, I mean the MH not you personally. Lastly, change all the fluids to full synthetic. I think you will see as much of a gain by doing that as adding three grand worth of Banks stuff.
I installed the full Banks system on a 454 Chev, and it was well worth the cost. The Banks system is a complete setup, it gets the air in and gets it out. All components are engineered to work together to maximize the total effect. All components are extremely well built, flanges on the headers are thicker than most, if not all other headers. Thicker flanges insures no warping.
If you are looking for something to payback your money in savings, it will not happen, but you will enjoy driving the coach a lot more!
Good Luck
CarlGeo
If you are looking for something to payback your money in savings, it will not happen, but you will enjoy driving the coach a lot more!
Good Luck
CarlGeo
R
rls7201
Guest
I'll have to second what CarlGeo said. I've had the full Banks Power Pack on my ol 460 for over 7 years now and I still get that goofy grin on my face every time I throttle up. Darn near froze my ears off with my head hung out the window, listening to that deep throaty roar. Can't hear it with the window shut. Just like any other premium item, you'll pay more for a Banks system. They use better materials and the whole system is engineered and tested on a dynamometer. Check Banks web site for a graph of how much performance gain you'll get. The dynamometer don't lie. The whole system can be obtained for about $2K if you shop around. A honest repair facility should be able to install it for around $600. If you have the tools and skills, do it yourself.
Was it worth it? Yes the extra performance was worth it for me. Did I get any better fuel mileage? NO. Do I enjoy being able to pull hills with out down shifting as much? See Big ol goofy grin on face.
Richard
Was it worth it? Yes the extra performance was worth it for me. Did I get any better fuel mileage? NO. Do I enjoy being able to pull hills with out down shifting as much? See Big ol goofy grin on face.
Richard
Thanks alot for the advice Carlgeo and Richard,it is very helpful and appreciative.I am not looking for it for the mileage as more for performance.I was reading that with the workhorse and the coach on top restricts air with factory parts.I took it as far as Florida from Michigan towing a Ford Edge and was pretty happy.I have seen different prices for the system though like you said Richard and I have contacted Banks directly and the best price is with them.Thanks again for the comments and advice.
Rich
Rich
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
The old 460 and 454 engines were lamentably short on air intake and only halfway ok on exhaust. A Banks kit on those worked wonders (I had a '96 460 with full Banks). Newer engine installation like the 8.1L on a Workhorse have excellent exhaust pipes and decent headers, but could still use some intake improvements, so maybe the Banks intake would help a bit.
R
rls7201
Guest
Gary RV Roamer said:
If you check into Banks web site, you would be suprised at the performance improvements on the later engines.
Gains up to: Horse Power.......Torque
454 72 87
8.1 70 92
460 85 118
V10 2Valve 53 69
V10 3Valve 56 70
So you can see from Banks Dyno, the 8.1 exhaust system has lots of room for improvement.
Richard
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
The 70 hp, 92 lb-ft number is with the entire Banks package - manifolds, air intake, Stinger exhaust and Otto-mind electronics. And those gains are at a screaming 4200 rpms, where few of us ever run.
Don't get me wrong - I'm a Banks fan. Just trying to keep things in perspective.
Don't get me wrong - I'm a Banks fan. Just trying to keep things in perspective.
Jeff Brown
Well-known member
My 30ft Pinnacle with a 454 had the full banks package and US Gear Hi/Low gear box and many people told me without at least one of those it would have been a dog to pull a big "out west" hill. We love to go up the front side of Mt. San Jacinto to Silent Valley or Idyllwild the Pinnacle gave us zero trouble what so ever. So when I got the new rig with no Banks upgrade and no added gear box I was a bit worried about getting to the places we like to camp. Our first outing was to Silent Valley and my worries were completely unfounded. The larger heavier rig with the 8.1 and Allison combo seemed to have all the power that the heavily upgraded Pinnacle had and then some! The main advantage seemed to be the 8.1 seemed to have more power at lower RPMs which any diesel guy will tell you is never a bad thing.
What it didn't have was the loud throaty exhaust my muscle car neighbor used to just love to hear. Keep in mind after the first 3 hours of driving that cool roar is quite a bit less cool! (At around the 6 hour mark it could make you homicidal...) And as others have stated in the RPM ranges I regularly use the power improvement is not nearly as great!
If you have an extra 2600 kicking around it might be better spent taking the rig out more often than on upgrades that might or might not end up worth it. Using it is always worth it!
That's just my take on it though.
Jeff
What it didn't have was the loud throaty exhaust my muscle car neighbor used to just love to hear. Keep in mind after the first 3 hours of driving that cool roar is quite a bit less cool! (At around the 6 hour mark it could make you homicidal...) And as others have stated in the RPM ranges I regularly use the power improvement is not nearly as great!
If you have an extra 2600 kicking around it might be better spent taking the rig out more often than on upgrades that might or might not end up worth it. Using it is always worth it!
That's just my take on it though.
Jeff
R
rls7201
Guest
Gary RV Roamer said:
The stock horse power peaks at the same 4200RPM. Just keeping things in perspective. There are significant gain at all RPM ranges.
How about 40 HP & 45 Ft.Lbs of torque gain @ 3000RPM for the 8.1 You see those RPM in your driving.
Jeff,I do use it quite a bit so im not just looking to add upgrades and not use it.The reason I have been asking is because I took it into the Cummins dealer for the brake recall and the service tech said one of my exhaust manifold looked like it was starting to warp.I know some about engines,but Ford not as much as 8.1 workhorse.He said that the workhorse had a problem with restricted airflow after the coach was added.He suggested the banks system to alleviate that.I can think of many things to spend 2600 on than on something that might not change the system much.Like I said I'm not looking to increase gas mileage,because one doesnt look at that when they buy these.Anyway thanks for the suggestions,I dont plan on adding the headers and exhaust if anything the air intake due to the size of the grill opening.
Thanks,
Rich
Thanks,
Rich
Jeff Brown
Well-known member
My experience was only with the 454 and the improvement was apparently pretty great but I never drove a different 30' rig with a 454 in it that was not upgraded. Exhaust noise was a factor in getting rid of that rig though. not as big of a factor as not having a slide and everything just being overall outdated. My understanding is that to get a real improvement you have to do most if not all of the kit. If I had header issues I would look really hard at the Banks headers because they really are great parts, but personally my interest would be in keeping the rig running smoothly not increasing performance. Again your mileage may vary drastically!
Thanks,
Jeff Brown
Thanks,
Jeff Brown
