Anita's Towing Question

Carlos F. Crespo (nigcfc1@ibm.net)
Wed, 19 Nov 1997 09:48:25 -0500

Dear Anita:

I can sympathize with your dilemma. I have a 1994 Ford F-350 diesel, crew
cab pick-up truck . turbo-charged and with the 4.10 gear differential. I
tow a 4 horse Sundowner with full living quarter weighing 7000 lbs. empty.

In the beginning I was having trouble towing the trailer and had even
considered changing my then new truck for something more powerful. In 1995
I was lucky enough to run into Cindy Simcox's husband who happens to work
for Ford Dealer and has forgotten more about engines and performance than
I ever expect to know. He had the same problem and explained how he was
able to resolve it by replacing the standard 2 inch diameter exhaust system
with a 3" diameter exhaust. He also went much further by boosting the
output of the factory installed turbocharger from the factory setting of 7
Lbs. to 8 Lbs. and installed additional cooling fans under the hood to
dissipate the additional heat when flying up hills. Following is an
explanation of what happens:

The Banks "Power Pack" is nothing more than a wider exhaust system. In
the case of my truck, Ford installs a 2 " diameter exhaust system which is
crimped to about 1" diameter shortly before the pipes from the manifold
merge into a single pipe and bends down to meet the main exhaust pipe. From
there on, what you have is a 2" exhaust system. The result of this
ridiculous design is that you end-up with 8.5 Lbs. of backward pressure on
your exhaust system. This means that your engine has to work that much
harder just to overcome the resistance caused by its own exhaust system.

Lucky for us "Endurance Drivers" Banks developed the Power Pack. In the
case of the F-350 it replaces the factory restricted exhaust with a 3"
diameter exhaust and muffler throughout. The backward pressure is reduced
from 8.5 Lbs. to only 0.5 Lbs. resulting in improved efficiency, power
and mileage. Surprisingly, it takes about 4 hours of labor to remove the
Ford Factory Exhaust System and only about 30 minutes to install the Banks
System though it is much wider. The Banks design is perfect.

In my specific case, we went from a maximum cruising speed of 62 MPH towing
fully loaded to cruising at 70-75 MPH while improving fuel efficiency 5%.
In city driving our fuel efficiency went from 12 Mpg to 17 Mpg.

I can highly recommend the Banks Power Pack . Since it is only a
replacement of the exhaust system it should not be restricted by EPA. If
anything it may reduce contamination by the fact that it will increase the
vehicles natural efficiency. Discuss your problem with the local Banks
dealer or call the factory directly. I have found both to be very
knowledgeable and helpful. If you decide to install the Power Pack I do
suggest also installing the exhaust temperature gauge. The Banks dealer
will explain why, It is the topic of another dissertation.

Now that you will have a super efficient towing vehicle maybe you can come
to do some rides out East.

Good Luck and Happy Towing,
Carlos
ccrespo@nigma.com