Buying a 2005 F250 6.0 and it has a banks 6 gun tuner and just wanted to see if anybody has any experience with this tuner or suggestions with it. Thanks (Not power banks my bad lol)

 

If it's shift on the fly type... get rid of it! No tuning for the transmission will destroy it in short order, full power applied to the clutches during the shift eats them. You want a tuner that removes some timing and doesn't slam the gears.

 

I've been running a Banks Six Gun Tuner since 35,000 miles. Now at close to 115,000.
I keep it set at level 6 and have never had a problem.
I'd definitely recommend it

 

I've had mine in for over 2 years now, no issues. I've heard a ton of guys claiming that they heard from a friend or a mechanic or saw a youtube video that Banks eats transmissions. I've never talked to anyone with first hand problems and I've never experienced any myself. No transmission problems, and I'm still running stock head gaskets and bolts at 225,000 miles. I keep mine set on 6, unless I'm towing. Even though it's shift on the fly I only change mine when I'm in park and let it idle for a bit before driving. It's does a good job of monitoring most things, has a plug in for a back up camera and gps capability all on a nice 5" screen. That being said, it's doesn't support custom tunes, doesn't have an option to turn off the EGR light (not an issue on my 03) and as stated doesn't change transmission parameters. So keep all that in mind as well.

 

Great that you all are having success with the Banks tuner. However, risking something as expensive as a transmission would require a lot more "evidence" for me. I would want to see multiple people with OVER 100k miles with it, and no problems. jmho

Not a lot of Banks users on this forum.

Did a quick search and didn't find much.

Here are a few threads from the "old days"

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...s-six-gun.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ith-banks.html

 

I read through those old links. I guess all I can say is this. Those posts were started back in 05 or earlier when people were still using Palm Pilots with the older style Banks speed loader type systems. The one I purchased doesn't even have a speed loader option on it? It was the newest version available with the big 5" IQ screen. Maybe they've made improvements over the last 12 or so years? I really don't know. I feel like I gave a truthful account of the Banks limitations. I still think the drama with using a Banks tuner is way over blown. But in the end, I'm not selling either and it doesn't make any difference to me which one anyone else is using. If it gives you piece of mind to use a SCT instead, go for it. I've got friends that run them, they seem fine.

 

I'm not a big fan of banks for 2 reasons.

1. No trans tuning.

2. Banks keeps the emissions equipment functional. SCT even gives you the option to not run EGR on their "canned" tunes. Most, if not all custom tunes for these trucks keep the EGR valve shut. That tuning feature alone helps the fuel economy noticeably and keeps the soot out of the intake.

If you're going to keep running your banks setup, they have a seperate plug-in module that tunes the transmission. It's called trans-command i think.

edit:
Transcommand was for the e4od and 4r100 transmissions.
banks automind is what you want. It is the same concept. It is a seperate plug-in module that works alongside the banks tuner.

 

I had a Banks for a while. Seemed good. Shifts were more rough with it (on 6) than with my custom SCT tunes

 

After reading truck, towing, contractor, and RV usenet groups and forums since 1997, when it comes to the subject of power chips & programs, consensus opinions are like schools of fish. They flint and flicker this way and that... surging in a tidal wave of agreement one way, then just as quickly vanishing en masse toward another direction.

A significant influence on the change of opinions can be traced to how the personalities of the proponents are perceived. And those personalities are influenced by the people they personally know. So if popular Personality A (PA) gets to personally know chip Tuner 1 (T1), then that relationship greatly influences how PA presents his experience with T1's chip. And that presentation vicariously promotes T1 to be tried by others who've come to trust PA, and if T1 is good enough for PA, and if PA trusts T1, then T1 is good enough for them, and T1 can be trusted.

Until, popular Personality B emerges, who tried T1, and then later tried T2. You get the picture. In the 20 years I've been reading these forums, I've seen this pattern repeat itself over and over. Since it is not possible to create lab conditions with trucks located in different climate zones and having different after market doo dads attached, there is no real way to scientifically compare T1 to T2 to T3... other than through the opinions of others, which themselves are either discredited or given more credit than they deserve due to the perception of their personalities.

The cottage industry tuners, including, but not limited to, Matt at Gearhead, or Jody at DP Tuner, or Brian and Brian's Truck Stop, etc, where the principals are more directly accessible to the user base, tend to have more "personalities" speaking favorably of their products, in part because of the personal engagement between the personality and the tuner.

The more long established entities like Banks... have many layers of unknown persons (engineers, sales, customer service, etc) between the principal (Gale Banks) and the product. This administrative distance creates a disengagement between the customer and the business owner that seems to influence the level of enthusiasm the customer has for the product. People can still call Tadd Layton (Elite Diesel) or Tony Wildman (Total Diesel). They can't quite call Gale Banks as easily.

The personal engagement, or lack thereof, appears to significantly influence how a product's performance is perceived. It isn't necessarily measured scientifically. The human dynamic is as large of a factor as the profit motive of the resellers and producers involved.

Banks was turbocharging Ford diesel engines in pick ups for 10 years, since 1983, before Ford ever put their first turbo in a diesel pickup in 1993. I recently saw a Banks 6.9L sidewinder still on the road today. There are obviously decades of experience and reliability behind Banks systems. And, there are dozens of detractors.

Since you will already get the Banks 6 gun with the truck you are buying, probably the best opinion you'll ever find about it will be your own, on the road, not online.

 

I don't think the trans-command works with 6.0 tranny. Not sure though. You're right about the SCT. If you plan on deleting the EGR, want custom tunes and want tranny tuning it's probably your best bet. As I pointed out above. I agree 100%. Honestly, I'll probably eventually end up going that route. But, it won't be because the Banks was garbage or ruined my truck or transmission. That's the only point I was trying to make.







"I'm not a big fan of banks for 2 reasons.

1. No trans tuning.

2. Banks keeps the emissions equipment functional. SCT even gives you the option to not run EGR on their "canned" tunes. Most, if not all custom tunes for these trucks keep the EGR valve shut. That tuning feature alone helps the fuel economy noticeably and keeps the soot out of the intake.

If you're going to keep running your banks setup, they have a seperate plug-in module that tunes the transmission. It's called trans-command i think."

 

I edited my earlier post. You're right about the transcommand not working for the 6.0. The newer version is called "automind" and is meant for the 6.0 and 6.4.

 

Gotcha...didn't see that. Thanks.

 

My only point regarding ANY tuner/chip is that you either:
1. Search for factual information
2. Rely on others experience
or
3. Take a chance and accept any and all consequences

Tuner discussions were quite prevalent in the early days, and MANY people took a chance and suffered from it. However, they helped others learn without having to experiment.

As I said in the previous post - there isn't a ton of experience out there on the Banks tuner in 6.0L's ..... especially with any improvements that may or may not have happened (I suspect it has been a long time since any tune-writing company has spent much time improving 6.0L tunes though).

There is a LOT more experience out there on the SCT. That said, many people have had good success, but some have not. There is enough variability in the quality of manufacturing that it takes a lot of data to prove a point.

I like data before risking as much as a transmission (which I eventually did - 90k miles ago).

Others may feel more "pioneering". I think that is great (I can learn from it without risk)!

 

I just wanted to add to the confusion. haha. I went ahead and sold off the Banks system. Curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to compare tuners and figured I'd just stick the loser on ebay. So that's what I did and that's why I no longer have the Banks. I got a SCT x4 tuner with an Edge Insight for monitoring. Great combination. Shows everything I can think of for a monitor (way more info than I had on the Banks) plus there are tons of plug in probes, back-up camera and options for it. The X4 with custom tunes is awesome. While I never had issues with my transmission, having it tuned makes for such a better driving experience. I've got WPE tunes on it now and I've got nothing but good things to say about Nate and WPE. I must say while I think the Banks gets a bad rap, this combo is so much better. I really should have done this long ago. Especially considering that the prices are comparable between the two.

 

Stock lid has that tiny opening that ford seemed was ok