Every RV magazine I read has something from Banks in it. Do any of their 'kits' actually work well enough to justify the expense? Is there a down side to installing their stuff.

Rick

quote:

Originally posted by Richard_Muise:
Every RV magazine I read has something from Banks in it. Do any of their 'kits' actually work well enough to justify the expense? Is there a down side to installing their stuff.

Rick

Rick, I don't see any info on your signature, and my monitor is not showing me enough detail on your picture, so I'll cover both gassers and diesels.

We had a Barthmobiler here who had Banks install a kit on his Breakaway. You can get the info first hand with a search. He was not happy, but part of his unhappiness was the sloppy installation.

I think we have at least a couple of members here with diesel up-powering experience who did not go Banks.

The people who man the Banks displays at So Cal and AZ RV shows, as well as whoever answers the phones are almost laughable. If you call them, use someone else's phone, or they will bother you to death with callbacks.

As far as gassers go, their systems are not bad. I believe them to be overpriced and over-advertised, but they do offer a good performance gain over the stock Chevy exhaust. Their inclusion of a K&N filter element is pure marketing. There is no performance gain, and they can actually shorten the life of your engine by letting in grit.

Any header is an improvement over cast manifolds, and long tubes are better than short tubes. Their headers are long and of equal length design, which I believe is inferior to the Tri-Wye design for RV or towing use. I have used only tri Wye headers on RVs, but on tow cars the tri wye headers were better than equal length over the wide band. For max power in a narrower band, the equal lengths are a little better, though. Equal length headers are much easier to make, though.

Banks advertises a lifetime guarantee, but there are accounts out there about them not honoring the guarantee. That said, I have used Thorleys for years on several vehicles, and have no idea how they do on their guarantee, either, as I have never had a failure.

I spent a fair amount of time dealing with cracked stainless exhaust stacks on aircraft engines, so I tend to cast a jaundiced eye on stainless headers.

Thorleys offer the same or better performance and can be installed by most people, and do not require a complete new exhaust, although sometimes a muffler replacement can help. The collectors can be connected to the stock Chevy duals very easily with band connectors. You can do your own cold air intake for a couple of dollars worth of dryer vent tube.

I used to have a friend who actually did some comparisons and firmly believed Banks to be inferior to Thorley. Sadly, he has passed, so no details.

However, you get to brag a little more if you have a Banks kit, since you payed a lot more, and they advertise a lot. Plus, they give you a couple of chrome plaques to stick on your coach. One for the front and one for he back. And a nice hat.

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I have a Cummins 5.9

Rick

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
Rick, I don't see any info on your signature...

Richard, if you need help setting up a signature profile, let me know. It makes it alot easier to answer your questions.

Some people may look at your post and just not answer it because of being unsure of your coach. BTW: Data tag too if you get a chance.

"K/N is a marketing gimmick" Bill,I have a K/N filter on my 2002 Yukon, 5.3. Does it really let in grit? Should I take it off? What is the best air filter for the Tahoe and also for the carburetted 454 in the Barth?
Jim

I've never heard of the K&N air cleaners letting anything but filtered air into the engine. I've had one, (the same one), on my Turbo Buick for 15 years and I swear by them.
btw, I like the Gibson exhaust kits...never tried them, but it looks good.

http://www.campingworld.com/or...326925&cord_Group=31

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:

Bill Ihave a K/N filter on my 2002 Yukon, 5.3. Does it really let in grit?

Yes. In dune buggy and motorcycle racing, air filters got a lot of attention. Two cycle engines, in particular, are very sensitive to grit, with needle wrist pin bearings, roller rod bearings and ball main bearings, all getting whatever the air cleaner misses. A four cycle engine is much more tolerant of air filters, as the bottom end is isolated from air filter felonies. A number of people who have their oil analyzed get reports of silica, which go away when the K&N goes away and a good paper element takes its place. I also had good results with foam filters. Filtron, but I don't know if they are available any more. They were high maintenance, but my air passages always passed the Kleenex test.

quote:

Should I take it off?

Yes

quote:

What is the best air filter for the Tahoe and also for the carburetted 454 in the Barth?

AC is at the top of this list. http://www.duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm

The air flow information on that site is informative, but there is another source. A dyno article from Hot Rod documenting the horsepower of various air filters. Hot Rod has removed it from their site, or at least the link is broken, but I have a saved copy and will share it on request by E mail.

Here is the article's conclusion:


"As you can see, there was very little difference between the filters tested, though the paper element did lose a few ticks as compared to the performance units. In fact, the power numbers are so close as to be identical compared to testing repeatability. However, the one thing we were not able to fairly quantify is airflow performance after a given amount of contamination, and we suspect that’s where a slight difference might show. You’ll have to sort through the advertising claims and make your own call based on price, warranty, and—sad but true—appearance. Also keep in mind that while the paper element is the cheapest, it also gets dirty faster (as evidenced by the seat-of-the pants power you can feel when swapping a used paper filter for an aftermarket one), is not reusable, and probably does not filter contaminants as well."

quote:

Originally posted by RichieC:
I've never heard of the K&N air cleaners letting anything but filtered air into the engine.

As readily seen in the test cited above, all filters pass things besides filtered air through them. The difference is how much.

quote:

btw, I like the Gibson exhaust kits...never tried them, but it looks good.

I had a friend who used them. He reported better climbing and cooler running.

I have a complete Banks Exhaust System on my coach and have nothing but good things to say about it.

For me, the biggest reason for doing this was the stock exhaust manifold would not seal right. I tried, but the manifold seemed to have "Shrunk?" The front and rear bolts, where it attached to the head, no longer matched up.

I was done wasting my time, I installed a set of their stainless steel headers, exhaust pipes and muffler.

Earlier Bill H mentioned:

quote:

We had a Barthmobiler here who had Banks install a kit on his Breakaway... He was not happy, but part of his unhappiness was the sloppy installation.

He was referring to this post from late 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Banks Power Products are the Best-Engineered products for the HD & RV Market. Gale addresses aspiration before fuel & timing in EVERY system. I have been installing the Banks products along with Thorley & Gibson since 1983. The banks manifold uses a 5/8" thick, blanchard-ground manifold to head flange that uses no gaskets, (with the exception of the V-10 Ford, which none of us have in our Barths) yes a machined surface, . The tubes are constructed of 14 gauge stainless steel. The difference in construction is unmistakeable. The Banks manifold (Header) is heavy when compared to everything else. They can handle 2,000 degrees farenheit with no degredation, the others simply don't hold up to that abuse. A Ford 460 in a John-Deere, Oshkosh or Ford chassis generates 1,790 degrees exhaust temperature. The difference in performance is astounding and the added fuel economy is simply a bonus. For the Diesels, especially the 5.9, Gale once again addresses aspiration with a larger, better flowing turbine housing and a waste-gate controller upgrade. Some are available with the larger, better-designed, dual outlet cylinder head inlet tube which centralizes the air flow between the 123 & 456 cylinders. THEN the fuel plate is installed to increase fuel delivery. I do not think fuel economy improves much, but available power & torque is dramatically increased. The only limiting factor is the transmission. Unless you have the Allison "World transmission" the MD3060, you will probably have the 4-speed Allison 542 which will handle only about 50 or 60 more BHP. Helen and I are running the Cummins 8.3 with the Banks "Stinger" in our Sovereign. After the installation, the coach no longer shifts out of sixth gear on overpasses and mild hill climbs while towing our Chevy 2500 Diesel P/U. On a personal note, I work every RV show on the Gulf Coast, in a booth, featuring Banks products. I do my best to answer every question posed to me, whether I make a sale or not. Why? I camp with all of you other RV'ers. We make friends with our customers, it is not "Just another sale" All of the facts I mentioned are from memory and not a Banks brochure. I hope this helps you to make a decision that you will be happy with. I know I am getting long-winded here so let me sum it up. In twenty-six years of selling and installing the Banks systems, I have NEVER had an unhappy customer. That is hundreds if not thousands of systems.
Call me anytime.
Billy Thibodeaux

Not "long winded" at all, Billy. That was a good read and I'll definatly consider Banks when it comes time to tweak my big block.
Bon temps, mon frere.