so i saw the episode of TRUCKS! on Spiketv where they installed a banks kit into a 6.0 diesel
have been looking around this site and i can't seem to find a comparison Banks vs predator

 

My personal opinion....Banks could be the greatest thing since penut butter met jelly....But I will never know because Banks' products are WAY overpriced. The Predator is reasonably priced and still makes me grin a year later.

 

Hmmmmm, is that why there is so much talk about Predator stuff. Maybe with Banks charging so much for stuff, they can build much better kits? I'm planning on going with a banks six gun with speedloader and doing my own dual stacks. I can't find a kit listed without the 4" SS exhuast though. I don't want that exhuast. I'm sure a supplier can put that together for me if I just call them. But I can't afford it right now, cause yes, it does cost a lot. Yeah, I could get the predator now, but I'd rather get what I think is the best.

 

As far as I can tell from reading their literature on their web site, the Banks doesn't do any tuning of the transmission and it is just a fueling box.

The Predator and Superchips Microtuner both tuner that tune the motor and the tranny.

The claimed performance of the Predator and SCMT are both quite similar to that claimed by Banks at a fraction of the cost.

My truck ran 16.0 s flat for the 1/4 mile at Carlsbad stock and 14.33 s with the SCMT in Hi Perf mode. For $400 or so that was a pretty big bang for the buck. It also tows my Toy Hauler quite well on the Tow Safe or Economy tune and improves the fuel economy.

 

14.33 is really fast for a truck???????

 

It is....
ESPECIALLY for a 7K+ lb truck !!!!

 

Must of been downhill with a good tailwind

 

Nope...
I can attest to what the tuners do to these beast - they make them monsters !

How about less than a 2 second 60 foot time with all terrain tires ?

Not all REAL dragsters can do that

 

Holy smokes Batman that is FAST!!!!!

 

That is incorrect Daryl about the tranny. The unit goes through a learning process with the torqueshift transmission. The issue that I would have with it if I had an auto is when you change from a low to higher power setting. if you go from 3 to lets say 6 you have to go through the learning process again to get max performance and it pretty much sucks. I have a manual tranny so I was not concerned about this issue. I posted a scan of the section that concerns the tranny straight out of the manual. I also know that the Banks unit monitors the tranny for any slippage and will shut down to prevent damage. A friend had this happen to his truck which made him a little unhappy but then he found out his tranny was going out and he was not as upset because he at least made it home. I think the predator is also a good product and IMO the Banks stuff was not that much more money if you are looking for a package in a "kit". If you want to get max power and mix and match products but my experience in the past has been you also get more issues. Realistically though I don't take the six gun out of #2. Can't keep the tires from spinning if I go higher than this on the 6 Gun.

 

Had a 1.902 s 60 ft time as well.

The point wasn't so much what the 1/4 mile time was but rather the gain achieved simply by loading the SCMT High Performance tune.

To drop 1.67 seconds and pick up 10 MPH in the 1/4 mile for a $400 investment is outstanding.

I've got bikes that will run down in the 10s but they sure won't tow my trailer

I tow a 30' toy hauler typically loaded to around 10,000 lb and the SCMT makes a significant improvement in how well the truck pulls up some of the grades and I had a considerable improvement in fuel mileage as well. EGTs are as good as or better than stock while towing in the Tow Safe mode too.

 

Predator in 65HP mode is the best bang for the buck for just general driving. If you are going to take it to the strip, different story.

 

I originally added this reply to another thread for response and I would like to use it on this thread to get more comments to better understand.

I am purchasing a Banks Six Gun for my 2004 F450 using a 4" straight out exhaust with guages from Banks if I elect to use that exclusively. As you know the Banks does not remove speed limiting. In order to do that, with as much research that I could manage, I found that I could use the Diablo Preditor to just remove the limiter only and utilize the Banks for my performance and engine and transmission protection. Do you think that this will be the thing to do or am I going way out of my way?

 

How fast do you need to go in a 7000 lbs. truck?
I can see adding the Banks kit to improve towing, milage, etc. but IMO if you want a fast vehicle buy something like a Mustang or Vette. Those cars are built for speed.

 

Hey Crash687, Yeah you're right and thanks for the response, but as you probably already know that the 450's and the 550's the limiters are set at 85 mph. If it were at 98 mph like most other trucks that would be alright with me. But there is the occasion that you just have to go better than that to get past that Big Rig in front of you on the highway. ya know?
I quess the real question is do you guys think that the marriage of the two products in this way will be compatable?