Banks Twin Ram Manifold - WOW

[C Schomer]

I scrapped the 15 and 30 degree silencer rings(problems at some rpms)and lost about 1/2 to 3/4 mpg, local driving and towing. I put the stock ring back in this summer and rechecked mpg. I put on a Banks Twin Ram a month ago and have checked my new mpg - one tank local driving and one tank towing with the stock ring so the only change was the Twin Ram. I filled up every time at the same pump, same spot and always up to the cap. Best mpg local was 19. 5 and towing was 14. 0 - before Twin Ram. Got 20. 9 local and 15. 8 towing after the Twin Ram. The towing included two very familiar test hills - one 4th gear hill and one 5th gear hill. The 4th gear hill is on SH24 westbound from Woodland Park, in the 'cone zone'. Before, I could do 67mph and after Twin Ram I did 69 at 2750 rpm and egt was only 1200 because I didn't have any more fuel - could stand to move the plate forward now to get it to pull to redline again. The 5th gear hill was northbound Monument Hill. Before I could do 87 over the first hump and 85 at the top. I did 90 over the first hump and had to slow down to 85 for traffic at the top - but it was doing it easily. I kept egt at 1300 or less for all the towing test hills. Some say they don't think the Twin Ram is worth the money for the improvement but I can tell you - with the proper air filter, exhaust and fueling it made a healthy difference on mine! It made more difference in power than changing from the 14 to the 16 housing and I gained on the low end power, lag and smoke with the Twin Ram rather than losing with the 16 housing. The improved power balance also made the engine run smooth as a sewing machine! I know it would be better to average mpg for several tanks but the 'before' mpgs I gave were the best I ever got for similar conditions. If I would have averaged all my 'before' mpgs, the averages would be less than what I posted. So I can safely say the Twin Ram was good for at least 1mpg on mine(probably more), so there will be a 'payback' with it! And believe me, Banks didn't pay me to do this!! Craig

 

[Cooker]

I'm curious if anyone else has had similar results?



Thanks.

 

[C Schomer]

Forgot to mention the extra boost and mid rpm cruising power - really flatten out the hills!

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Man, If your talking about towing at 90MPH you would pass me when I was cruising cause I would be laughing my a$$ off, that would be way cool to see.



Jim

 

[C Schomer]

That was towing - and on a test hill! I only do that when there's not much traffic. It's hard to resist whoopin the SUVs when they least expect it!

 

[Hammer]

OK,,I got a question here,,How does adding the "Twin Ram" allow the truck to gain extra boost????,,I'll agree that a better flowing intake will allow it to spool sooner and build boost faster,BUT,with out a waste gate adjustment or turbo change I'm confused on how you accomplished it??,,Were there some other adjustments that you are leaving out and did not give us the whole story??,,Low end power and lag seem to tell us there were other problems that you corrected,,Inquiring minds want to know... ... ...

 

[C Schomer]

Hammer, there was a story about the Twin Ram in the TDR a while back and it confirmed what Banks claims. It gets more air to 1 and 6 and evens out the egts. More air means I can burn some of the excess fuel I had/drive turbo harder/get more boost. Now I'm even running out of fuel at the top end, and can stand to slide the plate. This is the problem I've been waiting for! Life is good!! I didn't have any worse problem with lag than anyone else. As long as we have turbos, reducing lag will always be an area for improvement! Craig

 

[Todd G]

When I put on the twin-ram, I didn't notice an increase in power, but it did eliminate the mid-range flat-spot in the powerband. It does look cool when you open the hood.

 

[C Schomer]

Todd, all I know for sure, is the Twin Ram sure likes my 215. My air filter and exhaust helped lag but did very little for power - which has been proven by many members on dynos. From what I'm seeing, the Twin Ram works better if everything else is free flowing. The way our stock manifold is made is AWEFUL! Just look at how good hvac fittings are built - a square throat and radiused heel is the absolute worst way to build an elbow. It looks clean and nifty but they work about as good as a plug! The Twin Ram is the same way, but at least there are two of them to cut the resistance down and get more air to the front and back. Craig

 

[Hammer]

As I said, I can not dispute facts for better air flow to the intake and anyone who has flowed the intake off our engines will understand that,,Obviously and increase in flow with this intake will allow for us loosing some "flat" spots in the powerband and make it more efficent in the long run,BUT,I'm still at a loss here as HOW the addition of the Twin Ram produces more boost???,,I am not trying to dispute anyones findings or the products claim,but,you need to clarify it for some of us,,See the way I see it is this,IF the addition of the part allows you to gain more boost with your truck,it would seem to me that you had other problems that this manifold helped,,Increased air flow to your intake and cylinders,via an intake change,as I see it will not produce more boost,instead allow the motor to see the boost thats available to you from your turbo housing that your truck would not spool up,,Better,more effictive use of power is what we all seek and any way to accomplish it is always a help,,The intake adding more boost though,I do not feel that is a possibility,helping air flow and efficency thus producing lower egt's and a more usable powerband I'd believe,,So my initial question still stands,HOW??

 

[Cooker]

I guess Hammer has got me thinking now.



It seems like the intake manifold if a common spot for an air leak, perhaps the manifold installation cured an existing air leak that was present.



I'm just guessing, but my curiousity is "tweaked" now?



-Ryan

 

[SlyBones]

maybe its not peak boost but midrange boost, or boost while cruising, since he used the boost increase in the same sentence as mid rpm cruising power.



maybe he got the clamps tight when he installed the new manifold. loose clamps is a common cause of loss of boost, reported by many members.

 

[Howard Durand]

I purchased the Twin Ram add on from Banks after I had already installed their Stinger Plus system. This upgraded the Stinger Plus to their Power Pack system.

My Twin Ram kit, as provided by Banks, included a cam plate to replace the one provided with the Stinger Plus.

I am not sure if the Twin Ram is available without the cam plate.

In my case, the upgraded plate is supposed to provide additional fueling over & above that provided by the Stinger Plus system to take advantage of the improved air flow.

 

[C Schomer]

Hammer, the power and boost increase comes from being able to step on the right pedal farther - not just from the manifold alone. I had a slight egt problem before at full load and near redline - I had to back out a little. I don't see that as an extrordinary problem after reading all the posts about high egts on this site. Now at those same conditions, I can hold it to the floor and only hit 1200. I don't think it's very hard to figure out that I am burning more fuel and doing it cooler now! I also keep my clamps tightened, there were no loose bolt on anything I changed and the old manifold gasket showed good sealing all the way around.

 

[Todd G]

I didn't get a new plate with my Twin-Ram.

It is a royal pain in the butt to make plate and AFC adjustments with the Twin-Ram in place.

 

[C Schomer]

I didn't get a new plate with mine - maybe because they knew I already have the 11. I saw in the new parts list that they have a different one for the Twin Ram/Power Pack. I'm so darn close to the fuel curve I want. I only want a little more at high rpm and don't want to mess with the rest of it right now. The 62407 plate that came in my original Stinger Plus kit had a way screwy profile and the 62408 was better for street racing than towing IMO. The 62408 went WAY rich at the top end and I really had to watch egt there. But talk about RUN!! I decided I really didn't need to be able to squeal my tires with my 5th wh trailer on, so I tried the TST11 and I like it way better for towing with its more aggressive low end fueling and not so wild top end compared to the 62408. Craig

 

[400Magnum]

Linear throttle response?

Hi all,



As a relative newbie, I'm still sifting through the information to understand what's going on. I have a general question regarding the throttle response of the aftermarket fuel plates.



I read elsewhere that the aftermarket fuel plates made by a particular company doesn't have a linear response to the throttle like the OEM plate does. Does the Banks plate(s) have a linear throttle response like the OEM plate or not?



I was also wondering, when a person installs an aftermarket fuel plate, does fuel mileage for normal everyday driving get effected? I see the different charts showing that these plates produce a lot more power than the stock plate, and since it takes more fuel to make more power, it would seem that the fuel mileage would drop significantly, unless there is a piece of the puzzle that I'm missing. Is it just that the engine has to be loaded (either under hard acceleration or loaded or towing) to see the higher output? Otherwise, the truck will drive pretty much like a stocker?



Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[C Schomer]

I haven't had the stock plate for so long I don't remember but the 11 is pretty good. Craig

 

['956Wheel]

If the intake is less restrictive it would seem that boost would be utilized better, i. e. higher flow rate. If the flow rate is higher the boost reading THEORETICLY (sp) would show less boost. JMO



Mike

 

[MLee]

twin ram

just a comment, at the Terre Huate jam, i asked the banks rep about the twin ram, and he said- for a 12 valve engine it would be a waste of money, he said that it would work better on a 24 valve engine. but it sounds like you guys have been there, and your happy. just my cents worth.