Chinook RV

My apologies if this has been covered before.
I've been thinking of installing one of these kits.
Banks claims 53 HP gain & 69 ft pounds of torque and 7% improved fuel economy.
It appears that all they are doing is improving air flow through headers and intake.
What is the experience?

Hi Jermanator.

Banks' products are top-notch, and they are very generous with their materials. However, those numbers seem very optimistic. Also, that system is quite loud; I've heard it first hand in a V10 van. I installed similar ceramic-coated long-tube headers from Thorley on my 460, and I noticed a slight improvement in low-end torque and a slight improvement in economy. I also installed a muffler with single 3.5" tubing (instead of the stock dual 2"). Why did I spend over $1000 and many difficult hours to install headers? To increase long-haul reliability by eliminating the potential for warped stock cast manifolds, and to reduce heat at my feet and heat in the engine compartment. They work very well for those purposes, and there was no noticeable change in noise. But don't expect significant power gains or efficiency improvements.

I agree on the noise. Not sure what it's like inside, but a buddy has a Class C with the V10 and he did the full-meal-deal Banks kit. I can hear him coming from a mile away. It can be a drag if, for example, you arrive at a campsite after dark (or want to leave really early) and want to be a bit subtle. Even worse if you want to circle around and look things over. I prefer my V10 without it.

He also says he didn't notice much improvement in mileage or power, but that's just one person's experience. His rig also weighs 14,000# and adds a ~4,000' tow car, plus it has a big square overcab. So although I imagine the sound level/quality would be the same on a Chinook, the other effects might be different (more noticeable).

Chinook themselves went to Banks to set up the Concourse that they used for the RV speed record runs at the Salt Flats.

And I think Chinook offered Banks additions as a factory option.

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While I've always liked headers and such, in this case I wish I could instead justify spending $4K on an over/underdrive gearbox behind the stock transmission.

E.g. http://www.gearvendors.com/index.html

There's lots of hills where I'd love having intermediate gears between 2nd and 3rd, etc., instead of the engine either lugging in a high gear or screaming high rpms in too low a gear.

Agreed on the gears! Although from what I understand, the V10 loves to rev, it's still a bit shocking sometimes. I would very much appreciate a gear 2.5 in the mountains. More other gears wouldn't hurt, but that would be my number one choice for a single added gear.

New power pack going on Thursday. I'll report.

Can't wait to hear the results! Need something solid to compare with, of course.

Have you kept MPG data beforehand?

Perhaps take a 0-60 mph time before you get updated. And 45-60. So you can do a before and after comparison.

Thanks and luck!

I have a glacier built on a ford E450. I have not looked at 0 to 60 times. I'm looking to try and extend milage. Here is my logic.
My transmission is an overdrive 5 speed, and if I can keep it in gear longer with out down shifting my milage should be better.
Banks states that I will increase the torque by 69 lbs. I'll report.

Thanks, just wondering how you planned to measure the benefits

Sounds like you know your MPG now, so you can check for improvement.

I mentioned acceleration times as another way to roughly check if there's a horsepower improvement. Unless of course, the shop doing it has a dynamometer and can accurately measure it before and after.

Cheers!

Horsepower increase claim is 53. We'll see.
The "Y" pipe that connects the two cylinder banks
is extremely restrictive. The Power Pack kit corrects this problem
along with improving muffler ect. It also deals with the air intake