Banks Power System

I have Banks and it comes down to how fast you are really going prior to climbing a hill. The slower the approach, the harder the climb. However, mine only downshifts once and only upshifts when I crest the hill. I like the Banks unit in mine because the engine is really quiet going down the road with plenty of power.

Patrol 65 wrote:
I have Banks and it comes down to how fast you are really going prior to climbing a hill. The slower the approach, the harder the climb. However, mine only downshifts once and only upshifts when I crest the hill. I like the Banks unit in mine because the engine is really quiet going down the road with plenty of power.

Good truth. Had a 2003 V10, 2 valve. in the last MH, Coachmen Aurora 3480 DS, 35' 10". It provided some improvement on hills. It depended on when I was able to get into the gas, before the hill. Once in a very steep hill, I could not gain speed, only maintain. If I got into the gas before the hill I could get significant gain in the initial part. Before the banks, I would lose RPMs and speed, significantly.

I do not think I would put one on my current V10, 3 valve. It is good enough.

Being in the wrong gear is typically cause of no ability to gain speed up a hill. Steep hills and/or heavy loads can max out the ability of any engine however.

I found out when we got out west with the 1992 Chevy 454 TBI it was best to pull the real hills in second gear (4L80-e transmission) if I wanted to maintain 45-50 MPH to save fuel and keep the temperature gauge in the normal or below normal open road temps even when at WOT it would go the same MPH.

The only time I could not gain speed in first gear was going into Kingdom Come KY State Park (14% grade) and up the Old Priest run into Yosemite. That is not a condition I ever hope to repeat because on both mountains a crash landing would not have ended well.

The V-10 I am told is good to 5000+ RPM if you need full climbing power. On our 454 I try to limit it to 4000 RPM since that is the WOT (on flat ground)up shift point programmed in by GM.

Patrol 65 wrote:
I have Banks and it comes down to how fast you are really going prior to climbing a hill. The slower the approach, the harder the climb. However, mine only downshifts once and only upshifts when I crest the hill. I like the Banks unit in mine because the engine is really quiet going down the road with plenty of power.

That sounds like the Banks is tuned to high, or possibly too peaky of a power band.

I put the full Banks w/ K&N filter on my truck (see below) in 1999 after I got tired of changing exhaust manifold gaskets for the fourth time. Not sure if I really saw any difference in power or MPG, but I haven't had to deal with a leaky exhaust manifold gasket since! That alone made it worth the $$$. If it wasn't for the exhaust manifold gasket issues with the 460, I probably would not have added the Banks purely for performance.

With an 07 he should have the gen 3 engine with the highest output V10. One might be your perception here, what did you come from before this? Last MH we had was 460 with 3 speed, our 06 V10 5 speed is a race car when compared to that! However compared to my 323i convertible it somewhere between turtle and snail! :)

Some have stated that Ford has pulled most of the capacity out of the V10 in Gen 3, starting 06 model year chassis, and even Banks when I talked to them said the improvement wasn't as drastic as with previous years.

In my case I will generally let the trans shift itself and hold the throttle to not exceed 4K, it will speed up if I let it climb to 5+K but the fuel consumption climbs much faster than the speed! :B I am not in that much of a hurry these days and tend to try and speed up some before hitting the bottom of the hill.