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The Race Shop
Most companies call it Research and Development. Here at Banks, we call it the Race Shop. I think of it as the toy room.
But calling it the Race Shop is not a bit far-fetched. This shop has not only turned out several true-blood race cars, but it has also produced several world record holders. That is a pregnant statement. The emphasis, here, is on several.
There are plenty of corporations, around the world, that sponsor winning race vehicles. There are a few that actually produce them. But I can't think of many that have produced as many record-setters as Gale Banks, and this goes back to the days of endurance racing boats, as well as cars.Posted by Pat Ganahl on January 24, 2003Winning Dodge
Well, here's one for you Dodge boys (and girls). Specifically, I'm talking about the members of Turbo Diesel Register, otherwise known as TDR.
The TDR is actually based on a quarterly publication that started in 1993 with a stated purpose to be "an open forum for the exchange of information from the manufacturers to the owners," and "to give Dodge diesel owners more satisfaction in the ownership of their truck." The TDR magazine is a collection of regular columns written by a variety of authors, two of whom are John and Polly Holmes. John's "Ranch Dressing" column refers to their 2JP (John and Polly) Ranch in Silver Springs, NV, about an hour east of Reno, where they raise goats and other animals with exotic "coats" for Polly's hobby/business of producing "fiber" for spinning into yarns for knitting or weaving. John is retired, but still spends one day a week (Wednesdays) at Carson Dodge in Carson City, doing "special projects." TDR members know he's there, and bring in their trucks when they want something "special" done to them.Posted by Pat Ganahl on January 17, 2003At the Install
A couple of weeks ago, when I showed you all the different departments of employees here at Banks Engineering (at the Christmas party), I said I'd tell you more about the Install group in a week or two. Well, make it two.
I guess it should technically be called the Banks Factory Installation Center, but all of us here refer to it simply as Install.
Every day, five days a week, we normally have five to eight trucks and motorhomes in the Install building (or just outside) getting new Banks products—you guessed it—installed. Inside the building there are five lifts and work stations, three of 9,000 pound capacity and two of 15,000 pounds, so they can handle most any kind of pickup or flat bed trucks, gas or diesel. Outside, in a partially enclosed area (which one of the installers referred to as the "Banks motorhome cabana") are two large drive-on lifts of 27,000 pound capacity each and 20 feet long, so they can handle any type of gasoline motorhome we've seen so far. The diesel "pusher" rigs (motorhomes with a diesel engine mounted north-to-south in the rear, behind the rear axle—by far the most common type) are so heavy that they must be worked on on the ground, so there is another stall for them in the "cabana," next to the two lifts.Posted by Pat Ganahl on January 10, 2003What Recession?
You can tell by the date of this column that Christmas was the day before yesterday. Last Friday, after I posted the Friday Night News, we held our big Banks Christmas party. And the emphasis—and this week's news—is on BIG! My job was to take pictures with our digital camera of each department of Banks employees as they were called up on stage. I'll post them here so you can see just how big we are. I'm talking number of individuals, not individual size of employees.
The Christmas party marks my first anniversary here at Banks. My very first assignment was to take the photos at last year's party. This is my 61st edition of the Friday Night News. Time flies.
When I started working here a year ago, we had 160 employees. I thought that was a whole lot compared to the Banks Engineering I knew a couple decades ago that had about one tenth that number of workers in one or two small buildings. Now we have seven BIG buildings, and we're out of room again.Posted by Pat Ganahl on December 27, 2002Lumpy's Torrid Truck
Chad Horning is a videographer who accompanied us to Bonneville for the recent running of the Sidewinder pickup to capture all the record-smashing action, including shots from an airplane as the truck sped down the course. If you live in the Los Angeles area and watch the 5 o'clock news, you saw some of his footage in the last couple of weeks as several TV channels reported on The World's Fastest Pickup. And, as I reported here on 11/15/02, you can sample several clips of his video work on our Sidewinder web site.
But Chad is not the subject of tonight's news. It's his dad, Richard "Lumpy" Horning of Burbank, California. They say the movies are made in Hollywood, but most of them, as well as TV shows, are really made in Burbank, and it seems like half the people who live there work for the studios in one way or another. Richard works for a company called Easy Rider Productions, which supplies portable generators, dressing rooms, wardrobes, and other on-location support for music videos, commercials, and feature films. These are all in the form of trailers—mostly 5th wheel—that must be towed by trucks. Richard's truck is a good-looking 2000 Ford F-350 XLT Power Stroke Super-Cab duallie long bed. He says he uses this truck strictly for work—nothing else—and since it's always pulling heavy trailers, he knew it could use some more go and some more whoa. And after Chad's connection with Banks, he knew where to get it.Posted by Pat Ganahl on December 20, 2002CBC News
A lot of our products tend to sound like TV stations.
CBC
It's called an acronym. In this case it stands for Computerized Brake Controller. And it's a patent-pending Banks exclusive that is now an integral part of our Banks Brakes. Other diesel exhaust brakes are controlled by a micro-switch, which is a simple on-off device just like a light switch at home. It must be physically mounted to contact the throttle, which means it must be adjusted to turn on when the throttle is closed (and, more than likely, readjusted periodically to keep it working properly). And, since it's a mechanical device, it can stick or otherwise malfunction. And it only knows how to do one thing: turn on and off.
The Banks CBC is much more talented. You could say it has a mind of its own. It's not a switch, it's a computer. You hook it up with wires, and it adjusts itself, constantly.
But it does considerably more than that. That's the great thing about computers: they're multi-taskers. They can do more than one thing at the same time.Posted by Pat Ganahl on December 13, 2002The Jeeps are Coming
Two things this week. The primary news is that we are tooling up for a new line of Banks products for Jeeps. The secondary subject is the process of tooling up, otherwise known as prototyping.
We've been noticing a few questions and answers on web site chat rooms talking about whether Banks is going to make products for Jeeps. The answer is yes, we are. We are going to make TorqueTube exhaust manifolds; cat-back, all-stainless, mandrel-bent exhaust systems including a straight-through stainless Dynaflow muffler; and high-flow air intake systems. Our first target is for '91-'03 Wranglers with the 4.0L straight six engine. As of today, we have a '99 and 2001 model in our shop, to which we are fitting prototype TorqueTubes. We have the basic design determined. The question, and it's not a really big one, is exactly how the outlet will be configured.Posted by Pat Ganahl on December 06, 2002One Camaro to Go
At least one magazine calls them Pro Tourers: a new kind of hot rod with big wheels, very low-profile tires, big brakes, super-tuned chassis, a 5 or 6 speed manual trans, and plenty of horsepower. In other words, a hot rod that drives in something other than a straight line and for distances longer than a quarter mile—much longer.
The '68 Camaro under construction in our Race Shop is just such a vehicle. It sits on a chassis jig right next to Rick "Speed" Lefever's incredible Mercedes 500-SL quad-turbo Pro Mod race car, and Speed splits his shop time working on both vehicles. We've been bragging so much lately about our Project Sidewinder Dodge sport truck—the World's Fastest Pickup, period—that we've pretty much overlooked the Camaro project. Heck, it doesn't even have a name. But it's pretty incredible, too.Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 22, 2002Banks Power for Workhorse
At close to 500 cubic inches, the GM 8.1L Vortec in the Workhorse chassis is already the most powerful gasoline motorhome going. So how did the Banks engineers figure out how to get 22% more power out of it? That's 66 more horsepower and 77 more lb.-ft. of torque. They did it the way we always do—by building prototypes and testing them exhaustively to see what really works best in the real world. That's why it always takes a little time for us to introduce new products for new vehicles. There are no instant solutions here. But the news this week is that we now have Banks Power available for the 8.1L Vortec in the Workhorse motorhome chassis at both the PowerPack and Stinger levels.
More specifically, Banks uses the same methodology for achieving power increases in nearly all applications: more airflow in, more airflow out. Both the PowerPack and Stinger systems include a Ram-Air intake filter to flow more and cooler air into the engine. It lasts a lifetime and doesn't need servicing until 50,000 miles (servicing kit included). On the exhaust side, the Banks all-stainless, heat-shielded Dynaflow muffler (no, it doesn't come from an old Buick; we make them specifically for each application), increases exhaust flow—that is, decreases backpressure—by 65% over stock. Behind that, our mandrel-bent, stainless steel, 4-inch diameter Monster Exhaust slashes backpressure a full 70% over the stock tailpipe. These are impressive numbers that anyone could claim, but we have accurate test data to prove it.Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 15, 2002See Sidewinder Run
Seems like hardly a week goes by that we don't have something new to tell you about Project Sidewinder. This one will be short.
The news is that we had a video crew at Bonneville to capture all the action and sounds surrounding our record attempts, and you can now sample it on our Sidewinder web site. Webmaster note: As this is a very old blog entry, the links have changed. You can now watch a cool video of the Sidewinder Dakota here...Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 15, 2002Bob Robe
Bob Robe is a glutton for punishment. He's worked at Gale Banks Engineering longer than any other current employee—this January will mark 25 years.
Seriously, Bob just told me that he couldn't envision working anywhere else that would afford him the wide range of jobs that he enjoys here. To say that Bob is multitalented is a serious understatement.
His current title is Chief Designer—and that he is. Bob not only makes engineering drawings of all our new products for pattern makers or fabricators to follow, but in most cases he actually designs them as well, following input from Gale. But Bob also puts in time here as a graphic artist, illustrator, architect of sorts, TIG welder, plumber, head porter, machinist, fabricator, assembler—you name it, he can do it. Not only that, but he does it well. Robe's welds are beautiful. So's his machining. His routing and bending of hard lines—a very difficult task—is always impeccable. He actually enjoys it. His approach to all of these operations is that of an artist.Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 08, 2002
