[EROC]

Hey Guys!

Well.................. Got the lift,tires,wheels,hitch,brake controller, and nerf bars
installed. Said I was gonna leave this buggie "stock" 3 weeks ago when I purchased it .

So a buddy at the custom shop I use has a like new 4" Stainless Turbo Back
MBRP Exhaust that he had taken off his 05 Dullay that he is selling (3900 miles and its a cherry)
How much?, I say....... $400 he replies, Installed? ......... Sure he says!

It sounds AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!:cool

Now I find myself, suddenley researchin turners and programers........ go figure?:rof

Anyway............ Ive had Banks in the past, I trust them, and Im going with
the six gun w/pda.

Wanted to know if anyone here has installed one yet on a LBZ themselves:help .

The kits, chips, and waste gate heads were pretty easy to install on the 7.3
Ive owned.

Was hopin that trend has transfered to the Dmax as well.


Thanks

Eric

 

[Matty]

Eric,

I have the six gun PDA installed in my 07 LBZ. I had Banks before with my other truck and I liked it. PDA is very cool as it lets you adjust adjust and adjust some more.

I had a buddy of mine in the truck who has an 06 with a bullydog programmer, after seeing mine, he was like 'I gotta get one of those'.

As far as the install, about 1.5-2 hours for everything. And that was me taking my sweet time making sure I did it right. Hardest part is popping the dash off and running the line to the pda. Programming the PDA is a snap!

Good luck, you won't be disappointed. At least I wasn't.

Matty

 

[EROC]

Hey Matty and thanks!!!!!!!

Were does banks have you mounting the EGT probe? Ive heard alot of people
just drill and tap their manifold. Sounds like the easiest way.
PSDs already had a nice little tap in right at the back of the turbo,but the Dmax looks alittle tight for that.

May I also ask were did you purchase your unit from and about how much did it run?
Bank says around 1200 plus shipping, but I dont know if that includes the docking station for the PDA.
Seen them on ebay for 1159 plus 12 shipping but same ? their


I,ll PM ya when I get mine installed!

Later:gearjamin

Eric

 

[Matty]

Eric,

I mounted it on the passenger side manifold. Drilled and tapped it. Easiest way was to remove the inner fender wall plastic and pull the tire so you can get at it easily. (I was able to use a hoist).

I purchased mine direct from Banks. I think if you call them and work them a little you might be able to get a little bit of a better deal. DON'T do the EBAY thing. I've gotten burned way too many times!

I paid around 1100 or so. I was a prior customer of Banks so I don't know if I got a slightly better deal or not. The docking station came with it, I already had the Palm Piliot. Bought mine from Best Buy a year or so ago for work.

Let me know how it goes. You'll like the features of it. I sure do.

 

[Brians02]

Banks

Don't buy something like that from Ebay because it does not come with a warranty no matter what they say!!

 

[Diesel Nut]

Correct. No Banks sales on ebay. I would recommend you try out the site sponsors first. Several of us are Authorized Banks dealers.

 

[EROC]

OK Diesel NUT!

How Much?
Banks Six Gun, PDA with docking charger
Shipping Zip Code is 28689 or I can give you my UPS #



LETS MAKE A DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric

 

[jbduramaxlbz]

Dont mean to steal your thunder EROC, but matty i have a 07 LBZ classy and i was wondering if you are throwing any codes with the 6 gun and how does it perform!!???

 

[Matty]

No I haven't thrown any codes other than self induced ones. I had the EGR shut off with EFI Live, but you can clear that on the fly with the PDA. Which is totally cool.

It runs great IMO. But like I said earlier, I wasn't looking for extreme power either.

 

[Tow Master]

Hey Eric congrats on your up grades!!! :drink

When I installed my probe I did the same as Matty and drilled and tapped on the passenger side. Right at the rear of the manifold near where it bolts to the down pipe. Now IMO I removed the manifold. With the inner fender removed its honestly a 1/2 hour job to get it off. Doing it with the vehicle running will work to but its nice to do it on the bench then clean all the shavings out.

Also, I think Banks makes a great safe product. Banks products are well enginered and would be one of my top choices when choosing a programmer. Im also a ebay lover but im sure that a site sponsor can hook you up with a awesome deal and you get the warranty bonus to

 

[cjjonny]

I got my 6-Gun PDA kit for $954. I already had the PDA. I got that from Fry's Electronics a year ago for about $140. I will be doing my install this tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll try to take some pics as I go and that way if anyone needs any assist, I'd be glad to provide. I will be removing the manifold as well. I am awaiting receipt of my BD Power left bank manifold as well. I've also installed a Magnaflow 4" S.S. Cat-back system and an S & B Cold Air Intake. I went with that mostly to get a little more of the turbo whistle.

My main reason for installing the tuner is mileage. Can you guys post what kind of mileage your getting with your 6 Gun?

 

[Frozenhosehead]

Your BD manifold already comes with a pre tapped plug and cap to insert the probe into. I am hoping to get a EGT probe and guage before I install my manifold. I was wondering what the benefits of adding the Banks over other systems is? I also thought about buying the Banks Bullet with the Tuner, EGT and boost monitor. Any ideas on how well this new item performs. I am a little skeptical about buying certain products that are designed in areas that hardly see weather that gets below 40 F. Here in Alaska we get -40 F and stuff not designed for the extreme cold climates doesn't fare well.

 

[cjjonny]

Banks 6-Gun w/ PDA installed

OK. Well, I finished the install yesterday. I haven't driven it a whole lot since but I've put about 50 miles on it just in test driving, most of that was running the Allison through the learning curve for the new shift points. The performance is very impressive. I'm not really trying to build a racetruck. I just wanted to greatly improve my mileage. I had been averaging about 12 mpg. There's only 3300 miles on the truck. My brother has the PPE Xcellerator on his '04 LB7 and he is getting almost 30 mpg.

When I do put the truck to work, it is very impressive response. I got my first error code today. I was under very mild throttle getting on the freeway with the tuner on level 6. I got Error Code P0606 "Control Module Internal Performance" or something similar. The truck wouldn't accelerate but wasn't losing speed either. I cleared the fault code and drove the truck for about another 20 miles. I haven't had anything of interest since.:help

I'll keep you guys posted about the performance and the mileage.

 

[robs97z28]

how is the banks tuner? have you had any more ses(service engine soon) lights? How is the mileage?

 

[cjjonny]

how is the banks tuner? have you had any more ses(service engine soon) lights? How is the mileage?

I've only had 2 occurrences total of receiving any OBD II codes. Both instances were P0606. As for the mileage, I have seen a minor improvement. I'm doing test runs on different power settings. I've not seen anything impressive yet. The first tank I got almost 12.5 MPG by GPS trip odometer.

The power is absolutely spectacular and the online monitor with the PDA is outstanding. I've also taken advantage of the PDA to calibrate for the oversize tires. The truck still only has 3700+ miles on it and I'm hoping that as it breaks in, the mileage will improve. Install was very simple and straight forward.

 

[Matty]

My truck now has 20K on it. Since deleting the kitty I average 18.2 driving 26 miles one way to work. This is my average of city and highway driving. I use the level 2 for the best mileage, but really the speed loader only gets about .2 worse and the speed loader is oh so much fun.

 

[PaddleTracker]

Hi, I've also been looking at the Banks stuff to improve mileage/performance. I have an '05 Crew Cab LB GMC w/ 28k miles. It is bone stock except the 265 tires I put on. Before I put on the 265s I was getting 16-18 MPG on the highway driving 80 MPH, now I'm getting 13-14 on the highway driving 72-75 (bad mileage!). I'm currently thinking about the Hypertech tuner w/ Magnaflow turbo-back 4" exhaust, and a CAI, but was looking at the Banks stuff thinking that a system that is designed to work together should be more efficient. More specifically, I'm looking at doing the Six-gun w/ PDA, 4" Monster exhaust (turbo-back if possible), w/ the Banks CAI. I've had a few different diesel performance shops tell me the banks just isn't worth the money compared to other products, but it looks like they have more safety features which I like.

My biggest concern is that I don't want to toast my tranny, it seems as though banks has some safeguards to help prevent that. Please let me know what will cause the tranny to go into "limp" mode, and how do you get it out of limp mode?

Also was wondering why no one ever talks about the banks Ottomind system, and if it is any good. Is it really safer, or just a de-tuned six gun?

I have an EGR blocker plate, but haven't put it in yet because I don't have a programmer picked out. Will this hurt the life of the duramax?

Last question, do you really need the banks techicooler? Seems like a lot of money for not much equipment.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!
PaddleTracker

 

[duramax06]

i heard that banks will fry everything up. i would get PPE or diablo predator. or for the best EFI Live. MBRP is a good exhuast. AFE and S&B are pretty good for CAI. which every tuner you choose, make sure you put it on a low level if you're keeping the trasmission stock. if you want to put it on a higher level, upgrade the trasmission such as Suncoast. a EGT blocker plate will not damage anything.

 

[pincrusher717]

Also was wondering why no one ever talks about the banks Ottomind system, and if it is any good. Is it really safer, or just a de-tuned six gun?
PaddleTracker

In school we put an ottomind system on a Cummins Diesel and a banks six gun PDA on a 2004 duramax...no power result on the PDA yet... but as for the Cummins with the ottomind we had gains of 100hp and about 130tq...the ottomind did set codes for low tps voltage and something else involving voltage that i cant remember off the top of my head. But when we put it back to stock the code went away. I cant wait to see the results the group gets with the PDA though.

 

[pincrusher717]

The PDA all stock gave our LB7 600+ rwtq. My teacher said that last phase with bolt ons and by tuning the PDA they got 806rwtq