WhoCares79

Hey, im new to posting on this board but have found the info very useful in the past. I have a banks powerpack installed on my truck with a bone stock tranny. What is weird is that i really dont notice the difference with the kit installed versus uninstalled. Being that the ottomind is tapped into the PCM to monitor torque converter slippage, I am guessing that the stock converter cant handle any additional hp/tq and therefore shunts the addition of fuel by the ottomind. I am familiar with how the truck should respond with this kit but I think my old tranny was worked. I purchased the truck used in jan o5 with the banks installed. It was very impressive. Due to some "bucking" under acceleration I took it to dodge for repair. I have a aft warranty on it. They said it was the tranny and replaced it. Unfortunately for me that old tranny had some valuable components in it which someone at dodge probably has installed in there truck Anyway, the problem was still there with the new tranny. So we disconnected the banks and the problem was gone. After 4 weeks of dealing with banks lack of customer service I bought a new ottomind. They tested the old one and it failed. So here I am now with a new tranny, new ottomind and the truck is a slug. Through my searching I can see that Banks isnt as popular as I once thought. Has anyone installed this kit on their truck with the stock tranny? What was your experience? Thanks for any input you may have..

Mark

BobQ

I ran a Banks Otto Mind and it pulled very hard! The tranny lock up only tells the Otto mind when it is ok to give full fuel (if not locked, otto will only do partial fueling). You have some thing wrong, Make sure it is hooked up right. Also, you can unhook the lock up wire, this way it will fuel all the way all the time, but watch the TC! Let us know how you make out.

Bob

WhoCares79

Thanks for the reply Bob. I just took the truck for a test drive after unplugging and plugging back in the Ottomind. I wanted to make sure the LEDs were working. The truck pulled better BUT my bucking state is back. It seemed to go away with the O/D switch off. My boost values didnt exceed 23. With my old tranny i was seeing 34-35 and a much harder pull. Do you recall your values? I will try the PCM wire experiment but I dont want to damage TC. Also going to try unplugging map sensor. Im also wondering if the connection at the injection pump is faulty. This wire supplies power to the ottomind. I will keep you posted.

RJF

Honestly, I'd chuck the Banks junk for an Edge Juice or TST Powermax. All the hardparts in your Banks kit is fine, like the exhaust and what ever else comes in it, it's that Ottomind piece of junk. Banks electronics sucks.

WhoCares79

I may end up doing thaty RJF. How long do you think the stock tranny will hold up?

rebal

I second the ...ditch banks electronics. bin there done that and if it was my truck i would get a new valve body for the trans . the trans is plenty strong it just needs to be set up right to handle the TQ check out DTT or goarend bros. trans. ats or suncoast for a VB

Big blue got a lot of pounding out of his with just a little tweekin to the trans

one54ton

X3 on ditch banks. Worst crap on the market.

kelownadiesel

Heed the advice on tossin the banks stuff,I guess the exhaust is ok but overpriced as well.I think the reason you dont see alot of guys on this site running the banks stuff is pretty obvoius,it is no good and it relies on flashy advertising and hype and it delivers empty promises.A tst box or edge comp are the better street boxes.As far as the tranny goes,an upgraded torque converter and valve body would definately help you out.

RJF

I highly reccommend the new Edge Juice. Everyone is buzzing over it on the forums. It is the same box as the venerable Comp but it works with the Attitude and A2 monitors so you have complete guages and the VP44 juice comes with special features just for our trucks, like a fuel pressure sensor and warning system, turbo timer, and trans temp.

I love my new Juice.

As far as the trans, all the big names are great. I am partial to Suncoast. The guy I go through for all my performance parts is Jason at www.dieselnutmotorsports.com and has excellent customer service. He deals only with Suncoast.

WhoCares79

Ok I removed the PCM tap and found no difference in acceleration. I checked the crappy crimp connection at the injector pump and it seems ok. Tomorrow I will have a pallet of stone in the bed so I will be able to test it under load. Perhaps a boost level of 22-23 is all i can get without a significant load on the truck. Im definately going to do the TC/VB before any damage is done. From what ive read on these boards, it makes a hell of a difference in performance. The truck is pretty dead off the line and it has 4:10 gearing. Wouldnt a converter with a lower stall put the "off the line" acceleration further from the power band? How can I get a lower boost spool than the banks setup I have? Id love to see my dually wheel wells bellowing smoke :O)

WhoCares79

Nice RJF. What did the juice cost ya? I regret replacing my ottomind. It cost me 500

WhoCares79

Thanks for the info guys. Im not sure if the connection at the inj pump was faulty or if the banks was reset by unplugging it but it seems to be running strong again. I had a pallet of wall stone in the back yesterday and it pull hard. I saw boost levels of 34-35 and i wasnt beating on it. It seems that the turbo spools much faster with a load on the truck. I think the truck has better acceleration with the load in the back : / Does that make any sense? Oh and the way it is running now, im thinking the other tranny was stock. So im excited to see what happens with a VB/TC :O)

HOHN

Makes perfect sense.

I can promise you that a stock auto trans won't hold 34-35psi for very long, if it all. You need a better trans, period. At LEAST a TC/VB, but preferably a full deal. You don't need full billet everything (though I'd do it, *just in case*), but you do need something with better pressure managment and torque converter. I'd favor Suncoast, Goerend, and DTT.

I'm no lover of Banks, but you have it already and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than anything else you could do.

If you want a little more oomph, add some injectors to the package overall. But only after the trans is done.


You making a lot of power that isn't getting to the ground because of the weak tranny. It's worse with the 4.10s...

jh

Gotlift01

I'll second what HOHN said, with the tranny being stock you aren't putting near the power to the ground as what you are producing. The stock convertors slip something fierce once you start adding the power.

I for one still have my stock tranny, and while the truck still hauls some butt, I know it would be so much faster if I had me a new tranny........hopefully calling Dave here soon to hook me up

If you have the money and the skills to do it, I'd throw in a new convertor and a valve body.......that way it'll save you some money on install labor........but if you have to have somebody pull it I'd go ahead and have them build it. Costs WAY less doing it the first time around!


~Nick

WhoCares79

I agree that the torque converter is eating alot of my power but what does the 4:10 have to do with it? I am looking at VB/TC's and it looks like around $1800 for both. Thankfully I have the knowhow to install it myself so Ill save that expense and know that it was installed correctly. I also need to install a trans temp gauge so I know when it starts running hot. Injectors are a possibility but I agree, not till after the tranny. Unfortunately I have the aft warranty to deal with still. Id hate to dump all that money in the tranny and then it craps out and they dont want to replace it. : / (Lesson Learned: No Warranties)