Hello,

I had a friend of mine install a new Bank's wastegated turbo into my 1986 F250 4x4 6.9 diesel. He owns a shop that has been running for nearly forty years, and says he's has installed at least 20 of these on Ford trucks over that time span. What was to take a long day turned into seven. I won't go into all the details, but the damn thing just wasn't fitting they way the instructions said it would. Beating the hell out of the firewall, as well as cutting and fabricating into it was just some of the abuse, and it's still touching in a couple of areas.

So not only does the unit sit back too far back into the engine compartment, but the everything from the unit forward does not mate up the way it should. I still don't have the air cleaner housing attached, as it's mounting bracket is too far forward away from the housing. We did follow directions, and did follow the ones mentioning how to adjust the up pipe from the exhaust. Banks says he didn't follow directions.

Anyone else heard of these not fitting properly on 1986 models and earlier? Any suggestions as to what might have gone wrong?

Thanks,

RG

 

well i would guess he didn't insure the foot on the pedestal was sitting up on the engine correctly.......but the fact that's it's all together now right? suggests that it must be now,because the downpipe couldn't dream of fitting if it wasn't up in.

you know,when i installed my second one in log truck (the f450.a 2wd.) things felt a bit more spacious.after a day of thinking about it,i concluded (but didn't actually investigate it further) that perhaps the cleaner truck (the 2wd,never used in winter) probably has better cab mounts where the ones in chip truck (the f250 4wd) might be eaten away at a bit and more compressed.
don't get me wrong,it's still tighter than a motha in either truck lol.things have to be lined up just right.........the results were well worth it though hey?

ah what the heck.post 'em up.it could help figure out what might be out of whack.

 

Aftermarket junk.


Most fab shops like Banks have limited in-process quality control capability. The parts they ship are not made on any sort of high volume tooling so each part is a little different from the last part.

Out the door and collect the check, then the customer is on his own.

 

that's not exactly the rep gale banks engineering has.i'll bet a donut the issue is with something out of adjustment.

 

Correct ↑↑↑↑↑↑
When I did my banks install, it went relatively smooth. The pre bent up pipes lined up perfect with the turbo inlet. Don't get me wrong their was a lot of "tweaking" with the pry bar, little adjustments go a long way. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and use the instructions more as a guide line

 

Fitting everything in there is tough, I did one on my 1986 f-350 4wd with the 6.9, worst yet i bought it off the internet and had no clue if the parts were all there and were everything went. I stand behind banks anyday. they did everything possible to help me get this unit in, that I didnt even buy from them. There were problems that I didnt expect, the motor mounts sagged from age and lowered the engine a good bit. Someone before me replaced the trans mount with the wrong one, raising the back up a good 2-3 inches, and the radiator support rotted through on the body bushings. there was another inch or two. It all spelled out the makings of a disaster, but with the help from banks and some lifting here and lowering here it all worked out. I just was not happy with the performance, I was hoping for some more, 5 PSI boost? really? It was better but just not that much for all the work and money spent. After I did the hp injectors and the injection pump, thats when it all came together. Good Luck hope it works out

 

Thanks for the replies. Well, there has been some major tweaking, and it still doesn't mate up to the engine. A new bracket was fabricated to attach the turbine inlet to the manifold, and the air cleaner housing doesn't match up. I had to purchase new hose to connect the pressure chamber, etc. The mechanic seems to believe that he did place the turbine inlet casting in the right place. We did adjust the two nuts attaching the casting to the exhaust manifold, but it didn't seem to move the unit forward enough to make a difference.

The firewall was bashed back so far, that I can't re-attach the heater air splitter that sits inside the cab. A chunk of firewall was cut out to fit the turbo, and the CDR valve still touches the power brake booster. I think the air intake elbow is hitting as well, but it's so tight in that area, I can't really see if it is or not.

I guess the real question is, is the 1986 firewall so different from the 1987 and later models to make a difference? However, that still doesn't make up for the misalignment of the parts mating to the engine.

And yes, the unit performs great, but the "bolt on" installation is still pissing me off.
A gear vendor was also installed at the same time, and the combination works great on the freeway. From a gutless tank to a respectable performing vehicle.

 

This might be a dumb question, but does your firewall have all the insulation still on it? Because mine did and I had to cut every last bit of that out and then just bend the pinch weld flange over and everything fit pretty good.don't get me wrong it was still pretty tight but everything cleared

 

wow.that is soooooo far out of whack that im right back to thinking the pedestal didn't in fact get placed where it belongs.that will explain all these issues.

did you see my instructions for the kit with detailed pics?
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14021647



see this final pic ^ i bet your pedestal didn't look like it was mounted this far forward.......not even close right?
note,the close fit position between the rear corner of the intake mani and the pedestal (up pipe.)


in my favor,i had already run into this issue of not insuring the pedestal foot was where it belonged when installing the first kit on chip truck,a couple years prior.this is why i noted in my instructions how vital it is in red lettering.without that set properly it's all **** lol.

 

Something else it the cab mounts can move as the age, I would loosen them all and move the cab back, they tend to stick you have to jack the cab up to break them loose

 

Does the OP have any pics?

 

Is the turbo from a 6.2??

 

If the OP would post a photo...

 

The insulation was removed. The turbo was purchased new from Banks for said vehicle.

Here are some photos.

 

This may be a silly question, but did you get the little curved adapter that is required to get the CDR to clear the early 83-86 firewall? It is shown on page 12, figure 21 in the installation manual.

http://assets.bankspower.com/manuals...310-v3-web.pdf

I don't see it in your pic.