what's the feedback on this product. i priced it out around $3000 for what i want (no air filter , 4" exhaust ) is it worth the cash? will it shorten the life of my engine?
95 f 250 xlt 7.3 psd 4x4 5 speed

 

The Banks stuff doesn't seem to be real popular. I'm sure the exhaust and IC are first rate. Almost got them last weekend. Forgot to call them today. They had an extended sale on. As far as the other stuff. I know folks that love their Banks stuff. But compared to what you can get for the same of less money. The competition seems to be way ahead of them. But they do have California pretty well lockup up. They are one of the only CARB certified systems for the 98 and newer rigs. Can't comment on longevity. To many variables.

 

Depends on what you want out of your truck and what your mechanical skills are. Tell us that then we can go from there. If you are looking for more power for towing or cruising and just want to bolt some stuff and on and never have to think about it ever again then the Banks stuff might be the way to go. If you are looking for Way more power for towing or shutting up your mouthy neighbor with that Dodge or Chevy crap and want to get your hands dirty and build up a nice truck then we have many other options for you.

 

DON"T DO IT!!! Sorry Just had to say that. Before I came to this site I wanted some more out of my truck so hey you open up diesel power or any of the major mags and bam thers gale in his sun glasses with 6 pages of adds. So I spent 3400 on the power pack. Over a stock truck it is an improvement but no where near what they claim. all that to say that the intercooler is the only thing that I still have on the truck. They exhaust was a joke--they give you a three inch down pipe but you leave the stock muffler and cat and they replace it from the back of the muffler to the rear of the truck. I didn't even bother putting that on. The programing sucks also

 

i'm curious do the banks products have a disclaimer about engine life or anything like that????

 

3400.... what in the christ is in that pack to cost that much??? help just a simple tune upto 140hp is only $365 at PHP andyou can find a mock up IC jsut about anywhere on ebay, and exhaust are cheap enough and dont cost that much.

 

banks is overpriced junk that makes your truck one notch above stock

 

An OBS will NEVER see a 140 hp increase with stock injectors not matter what. So though they list that its not possible on an OBS.

BUT I will agree that Banks products are over priced. But they are not junk. Their fit and finish is top notch. Their Programming is safe and conservative and their stickers will add 50 hp on every vehicle you place it on. LOL

But really Banks has its place in my mind. It good for a person who has no interest or skill in fabricating, they have the money to spend and are only looking for a LITTLE more towing power or fuel economy. That description doesn't fit me in slightest but there are many out there that is does fit.

For half the price of the banks stuff you can have the same power but it requires for work, more research and more fabrication. For the same money with work, research and fabrication you could easily have 400 hp or more.

 

Banks "Power" Pack is:
Ottomind tuning
Transcommander
K&N drop in filter
Exhaust
Intercooler
1.0 ar housing
Gauges on tri piller
2pc 3" Dp

 

I like the result (after fixing an installation error I made). If I had the choice, I would do it again. So start throwing rocks...

I have not put the truck on a dyno, so I have only "seat of pants" observations. Also, I did not install the Banks air filter (looks like a private-label K&N) but kept the 6637.

I installed the Powerpack myself, and yes, I do fit the "has cash but not fabrication skills & time" description. The installation is the largest and most challenging thing I've done to a vehicle. I did the installation in stages, starting with the downpipe, tailpipe, and Ottomind (transmission chip). I agree that the post-muffler stainless tailpipe is mostly eye candy. The transmission chip gave firmer shifts, but I'm guessing the real benefit is less clutch wear on shifting, which isn't something noticable. The downpipe made the truck somewhat livelier in routine around town driving and on-ramps, but not spectacular.

I did not notice any change from adding the rest of the mechanical stuff- intercooler, turbo housing, gages.

Adding the chip... really BIG change. Went from a truck that made me wonder if it could get out of its own way at low speeds, to PLENTY of power and torque. The "seat of pants" testing makes me think that the claimed +120 hp and +250 lb-ft aren't exagerated much, if at all.

The driving that I get my impressions from is on whitewater kayaking trips to West Virginia. No towing, light loads, often canoes on the cab racks (lots of air drag... 2 canoes or a couple of kayaks on top usually costs 2 mpg), but a lot of grades. I-68 west of Hancock MD; US 219, WV 33 and 32 around Canaan Valley, Parsons, and Harman; in and out of Webster Springs; and a bunch of little back roads. Good mix of 6% at interstate speeds, 9% limited to 45-55 mph by curves, 9% with 25 mph switchbacks, and steep twisty and switchback semi-paved stuff in the hollows. I've done most of this stuff a bunch of times pre-upgrade, so I think I've got a good feel for the change from the upgrade.

Interstate grades that usually used to require pushing in 3rd gear now go up in 4th (E4OD auto), with torque in reserve. Slower highways may still require a downshift simply because RPMs are too low at the speeds allowed by curves, but I've got much more reserve. Climbing at slower speeds requires less throttle, less downshifting (because there's much more torque at low to moderate RPMs), and I can accellerate out of turns much more easily. Stop-and-go driveability and on-ramp accelleration are much improved. Basically, the truck now accellerates and climbs like a peppy car, rather than a lumbering cargo-hauler.

For full disclosure, the major problem I had with my Powerpack installation was mostly my fault. The engine chip piggybacks onto the ECU board, and the Banks instructions have some notes about restraining it with tape. I didn't do a good enough job, and the chip vibrated loose on a trip and drove the ECU nuts. Not fun on 9% downgrades with 25 mph curves, or a valley road with 45 mph curves, when the engine may randomly stop if it goes to idle. The threat of engine stopping wasn't too bad, but the possiblity of losing power steering on the curves was not pleasant. With some good ideas from folks on this board, I checked the chip, found it loose, and reset it and taped it well. No problems since then. My workmanship error.

Thinking about the upgrade posts I've read over the couple of years I've looked at this forum, I think TJ has the right conclusion. If you have the patience, time, skills, and equipment to acquire, fabricate, piece together, tune, and trouble-shoot an upgrade system, you probably can do so at less cost than the Banks system. You probably can get better performance as well, but I do wonder about engine longevity. If you've got the cash for an out-of-box system that doesn't require fabrication, tuning, and troubleshooting (other than installation errors), the PowerPack is a reasonable solution. Where I will disagree somewhat is on pooh-poohing the power and torque improvement. The improvements I see in climbing and accelleration suggest that I'm getting pretty close to the Banks claims, not just a measly 50 hp or so. But again, I don't have dyno tests on my truck, and would need before-and-after results to make a definitive statement.

My $0.02. Your results will differ

 

thanks for all the feedback it's great
my truck 1995 f250 extended cab xlt 7.3 psd 4x4 5 speed
luk solid flywheel ,fs 2500 bypass oil filter, afe stage 2 intake , 3.5" cat back monroe loadsensor coilovers stock hight for now,
i love this truck ,i will have it for at least 10 more years , this is my favorite body style , and the 7.3 psd is awesome , i looked for this truck for a long time , i am the second owner the first was a retired gentleman with a ford tech for a son ,it lived in the garage towed ,a 26' rv in the summer or hauled a 10' camper for hunting ,lots of dealer upgrades and recall fixes before warranty ran out .PERFECT paid a little more than the going rate but thought it was worth it
245000 kms = 153000 miles
daily driver hauls tools and materials for construction work , gets loaded to capacity with dirtbikes and camping gear then highway driven 500-1000 mile trips,tows my buddies enclosed trailer and stockcar 3-4 trips a summer
gets winter driven in snow and - 20
reliability is important , i want more power and torque , i can wrench ,
looked at the banks stuff because of the intercooler and plumbing banks says that their intake balances the flow to each bank and the stocker favors one side i haven't seen too many other intercooler set ups but i am open to anything

 

Banks programming Is definitly on the "safe" side. Egts stayed in check when I had the chip on mytruck. so for the reliability factor I thinks banks will keep your truck running for a long time--just not with the power I expected for the price. 120hp is on the cali truck with split shots. I went back to my old Diablo chip with 60 an 90 tunes and the 60 is way more than banks had. and from what I've heard (TJ) the diablo chip is "junk" comapred to TW. I will say that the intercooler is a perfect fit and looks factory and their "y" pipe (spyder) is better than others. I would buy their pipes, get a intercooler off ebay, 6637 intake, gauges, 4" straight pipe with 3" DP, a set of stage 1's and tw, dp or php tunes, and you would be less money with more power than banks

 

I got my Banks Stinger Plus, which is a Power Pack without the IC about 3 years ago. I also got a Power Pack chip. It was before I found this site. My cost was about $1600 with free shipping. (Stick shift so no auto tranny parts needed). I wish I had known of this site first but I have to say that I am happy with the increase in power over stock. I never used the drop in K&N and have a 6637. The EGT and boost gauges work pretty well. I also got a free 2 gauge pillar pod. I trashed my whole exhaust for a 4" straight pipe but still use the Banks upper DP half. The only other Banks parts I have left on it are the 1.0 housing and Power Pack chip. I have no problem with EGTs, even towing my Bronco and a ton of junk - 15,000lb + total weight. The 1.0 housing spools up pretty fast but I realize now that I will probably have to swap the stock housing back on if I ever upgrade the injectors. Performance gain was more than I expected. I can pull the Bronco uphill and hardly ever have to downshift. When before I was always downshifting to 4th or even 3rd to keep it moving. Some of the hills out here in NM, CO and UT where I tow it for 4X4 runs are pretty steep and long. Last month after the Bronco Safari in Moab, UT I was running south out of Moab with 3 other guys who all had late model Super Dutys. One was an '08 6.4. They were all trailering classic Broncos. I'm sure I weighed at least as much as all of them, if not more because my Bronco weighs 4700lb emtpy. I was able to outpull every one of them on the hills and passed them all going uphill in 5th gear. I can get 24/25 boost under load. My dyno nos are 274hp and 548tq and I know they are accurate. I can leave a pretty good trail of black smoke and it'll smoke pulling out of a light at partial throttle if I do it right. TJ is right. If I had known what I could have done with info from this site I would have done it vs going the Banks route. But the truck runs good enough now that I'm leaving it alone until/unless something breaks. $3400 sounds ridiculous for what you get. But for $1600 I don't think I did too bad. And I must say I thought Banks' customer service was pretty good as well.