Dealing with Banks

[OldIron82]

I'm not trying to bad mouth any company by any means but...I've called Banks 3 times now and I keep getting the same kind of response "I'll have to get back to you" In regards to the crossover pipe and up pipe assembly for the first gen turbo for our IDIs. It just seems like they don't care about older parts. I currently have two crossover/up pipes A Banks made one that came with the turbo kit I got off of the 6.9 in the salvage yard but it is severely rotted along where the two banks turn into one and begin to go up to the turbo. The other one came with the first gen 6.9 which was custom made and is really beefy but I fear it is not going to clear the external slave cylinder. I can weld and fabricate quite well as it is a passion of mine however exhaust is not my forte. In fact I'd rather chew broken glass. That is why I would just like to purchase and bolt on. I'm trying to get all my I's dotted and T's crossed before the engine swap.

Just curious about anyone else's experiences.

 

[riotwarrior]

Banks blows n no longer supports 30 yo tech

I muzt say this was purely cause they say they wont do kits anymore lol.

But you can by kits for an 84 corvette I bet

 

[79jasper]

Personally I would throw on what you have, then take it to a exhaust shop and have them make up new stuff.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[theguruat12]

Banks was difficult for me to contact when I was trying to get the install manual for my 1st gen turbo, but after like the third email, they did email me the manual, and since then, I have used their site to request part numbers and price for a few things (gasket for airbox, inlet elbow) and they've responded fairly promptly. What I remember having to do the first time was actually call their tech department while the technicians were on duty, and they put me right through to them.

Not that it wasn't kind of a pain, but I did have an overall good experience getting help from them.

 

[dunk]

I called a few months back asking the same thing. They told me the pn and price and said if not in stock they have the templates and can make them. I'll try to dig up the part numbers this afternoon.

 

[whitehorse]

Both times I've called they have been top notch....

 

[laserjock]

I think they are like about everyone else. They have good and bad reps. I contacted them via email and got a quick response and a follow up phone call too.

 

[Clb]

When I had the 88 (first gen banks) I called ,went straight to a tech who was there when they sold the kits...
And knew/remembered what he was talking about.
That said, these are completley out of stock now a days, and no longer supported.
Unfortunatley working on dinosaurs has its drawbacks.
Heck try and get ANY support from .say. .example...harley on a 35 year old bike!

+1 on muffler shop!

 

[hce]

I have had good luck with banks. Banks is a damn good company with excellent products, the quality and fit is on par with oem. You have to treat it like pulling a heavy load with an IDI. Be patient and don't beat the snot out it you will get their but not fast. The people you are talking to probably never dealt with the kit, may not know where to even find a parts book. There is probably one or two employees that know of these old systems well enough to help and the person your talking to has to find them. Always keep in mind this is not their bread and butter anymore they probably do not care much or get excited by an idi build. You have to go into these situation knowing it is a pain in the ass for the person finding parts and convey that your inconveniencing them and any help can be appreciated, doing so will make them excited about to help you. Make sure you get the name of the person you are dealing with and request him when you call back. Starting a call with I talked to someone there is never good. Can you tell what side of the counter I spend the most time on? Also a customer with the customer is always right attitude gets screwed.

 

[dunk]

Didn't write the part numbers down. I spoke with Chad, he said $40 for the small drivers side pipe and $280 for the longer pipe. This was in May, both pipes were in stock.

 

[OldIron82]

Ok to be fair, I did get a call back but I missed it. The guy left a message saying he would be there until 4:00pm west coast time, and it was 3:30 when he left the message, so 6:30 here east coast time. I didn't hear the phone as I was in the skid steer loader. The guy left his direct number, so I will call him first thing Monday morning. I'm very glad to hear the majority of you have good experiences with them.

@dunk: when you say longer pipe, do you mean the "y" pipe that hooks to both manifolds and has a little up pipe that the true "up" pipe hooks to?

 

[dunk]

The pipe from passenger side manifold that goes up to the turbo. One long U shaped piece that the short drivers side pipe T's into. I ended up just patching mine together to last a while longer, as I intend to do a ZF5 swap soon and not sure these pipes or pedestal will work. Pipes were available earlier this year though.

 

[Eli]

I'm kind of curious the outcome of this, I keep seeing Gen1 kits available for reasonable money in various stages of completeness and think my '90 might benefit.

Eli

 

[KZF250]

I'm curious what my option are when my 1G Banks turbo needs replaced/rebuilt? Supposedly it has about 180k miles on it but the fan blades look good and little shaft play so I'm not too worried about it for the time being.

 

[theguruat12]

I'm curious what my option are when my 1G Banks turbo needs replaced/rebuilt? Supposedly it has about 180k miles on it but the fan blades look good and little shaft play so I'm not too worried about it for the time being.

typ4 rebuilds them