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George Cooper · 01-11-2007, 02:53 PM

Iam looking to buy a 37 ft tag axle 1989 Holday Rambler Crown Imperial in eshape. It has a Ford 460 EFI and a Gillig Chassis.The Banks tecnical guys list Oshkosh as compatible but do not include Gillig, Any experiences or comments? Is there a Bankd alternative re power boost and gas saving??

George Cooper · 01-11-2007, 02:53 PM

Iam looking to buy a 37 ft tag axle 1989 Holday Rambler Crown Imperial in eshape. It has a Ford 460 EFI and a Gillig Chassis.The Banks tecnical guys list Oshkosh as compatible but do not include Gillig, Any experiences or comments? Is there a Bankd alternative re power boost and gas saving??

Gary RVRoamer · 01-13-2007, 05:07 PM

There are several firms making performance products for the Ford 460 and at least a couple making the tuned headers that contribute most of the Banks improvements. Thorley is one and Gibson is another. Gibson has a motorhome power pack that competes with Banks. Gibson Motorhome Power Pack

LVJ58 · 01-13-2007, 06:44 PM

George, you may have to take the coach to a local shop that fabricates custom exhaust systems and they could probably tell whether a set of headers would fit with clearance between the engine block and chassis rail. If the headers will fit then it's just a matter of fabricating an exhaust and tail pipe section for the coach. If using a single exhaust I would recommend a 3.5" pipe. There's some great mufflers available, Flowmaster, Dynamax, Magnaflow to name a few. Folks I've met with the 460 tell me headers and a good exhaust system will really wake up the engine and let it run much cooler. That HR is a fine coach, and with the Gillig heavy duty Bus chassis should make a great combination. Does it have the 19.5" wheels, if so, another plus.

Good luck, Jim

George Cooper · 01-14-2007, 12:47 PM

Jim
A sincere thanks for your e mail. I phoned Branzen RV in Washington State ( his name appears a lot on irv2. He agrred with you.

George Cooper · 01-14-2007, 12:50 PM

Thanks so much for the valuable info

george henry · 01-13-2008, 05:37 PM

George Cooper , Welcome to iRV2 .com

TXiceman · 01-14-2008, 03:19 AM

The banks headers will help on the mid-range power from the engine, BUT do not expect any real gain on fuel economy. To get power out of an engine, you have to put in energy in the form of fuel. More power....more fuel.

We had the Banks Power Pak on our V-10, 1999 Minnie Winnie and it did help on the power on the high way. We did see a very slight gain in fuel economy since we did not have to drive the coach as hard to keep up.

Ken

MtManLee · 01-14-2008, 05:45 AM

Last year I talk to banks about the system and also did a post on several groups about fuel economy. Banks guaranteed I would get from 1/2 to 3/4 mile per gallon increase or my money back. In the post I asked for others experience. I had most say that they got 1 to 2 more miles per gallon. Only one said no change. And between the three groups where I asked that question there were around 20+ replys.

Max Hubrich · 01-26-2008, 06:30 AM

Hi George Cooper,

I had an '86, 33' Holiday Rambler Presdential with a 454 Chevy. I put
"Hedmund" headers on it -- boy , what a mistake. The number one cylinder header came within 1/4" of the spark plug. I was putting a new wire on every night I stopped-- that got very old-- fast. I tried insulating sleeves and tin foil, nothing worked. I bought the Banks header system, had it installed and never had another problem. The power increase was significant, but I never realized much mileage improvement. I could get 8 1/2 MPG on the interstates in the South East US, but if much city driving or a lot of stop and go driving was done it fell to around 7 MPG. I don't think you can expect a lot more when your haulin' your home, restaurant and motel room around the country--

My latest rig does a little better with the 8.1 Chevy Vortac