Monster-Ram Intake – No Grid Heater Failures

00:00 Hey guys, what’s up? Welcome back. Today we’ve got another beautiful truck here. She’s a ’24 with 42,000 miles on it. You’ll see the truck in just a second—she looks good. Customer is trying to avoid having a very nasty breakdown, engine failure, and all that.

00:22 So, let me flip this around. We’ll get right into it. I’m going to show you why we’re doing it, then show you a couple little videos throughout, and of course the finished product.

00:40 Here she is again. Gorgeous truck. Customer takes really good care of her. And as you guessed, we’re going to be putting a Monster Ram on. Some of you say “why,” some of you still aren’t convinced—but let me show you why we put this on.

00:58 Now, this grid heater is not out of this truck, but this is a very severe case of why we get rid of these. Besides the bolt that comes loose and tears up cylinder six, this is why we get rid of grid heaters: they just get nasty clogged up. When your engine’s not running right, your EGR system isn’t performing right—this is what happens. Let me show you the backside. Nasty. Not pretty.

01:39 All right, I got the air grid heater out. Nothing serious with this one, but I want to address a couple concerns people have asked in the comments.

01:57 This is something you really need to pay attention to. It’s not as common as the first issue, but it’s just as deadly to your engine. This is the air grid heater out of this truck right here. Now, when we’re doing a wiggle test on these systems, we’re checking this stud right down in here. That’s the one the wiggle test checks to see if it’s starting to weld itself off.

02:40 The other deadly one is this one right here. You can’t see it unless you take the air horn off. No other way to check. You can’t see it, can’t wiggle test it. So it’s just as important to consider this one as well.

03:00 Now, if some of you guys have failed a wiggle test, the reason why is because that stud is corroded or melted off. That happens because your air grid heater relay is stuck on or has stuck on at one point. So, if you fail a wiggle test and you’re putting your Monster Ram on, you must replace the relay at the same time—or else you’ll just have more issues down the road.

03:38 All right, I’m going to clean everything up, the mating surfaces, and start going together with the new Monster Ram. I’ll give you guys a video after we’re done.

03:55 Okay, there she is—everything all back together. Clamp coming out the bottom, wires tucked nice and good, nothing rattling, nothing rubbing. Everything good to go. Now, let me show you a couple other things I do as well.

04:13 I’ve seen people just bend up the tab under the valve cover so the EGR crossover clears it. Nah—take it out. Pop the valve cover top, undo those two 8mm screws, get it out of there.

04:31 Another thing: see that thread insert right there? Since the beauty cover no longer goes back on, you need to take that out. Otherwise it’ll rattle and customers will ask, “What’s that noise?” Quick fix: pop it out with a trim tool or hose tool, bend the tab up, slide it off, toss it in the trash. No more noise.

05:25 So there’s the Monster Ram fully installed. Any questions, let me know. Want me to get one of these done for you, let me know.

05:42 Now—before I end this video—for those of you in really extreme cold environments, Banks has in development the Arctic Cold Start package. If you’re in cold climates, you may want to wait until that releases. They’ve tested down to –40°F. Keep an eye on the Banks website, I’ll update you guys as soon as I know more.

06:42 Another thing: the efficiency of the Monster Ram. You can hop on the Banks website and check dyno results versus stock, but honestly there’s no comparison. Even in stock form, you gain improvement—better throttle response. Mileage gains aren’t huge, but the big deal is preventing grid heater failure.

07:20 Those studs and nuts can come loose, get sucked into a cylinder, and destroy a piston or even the block. It’s preventative. Cummins should’ve redesigned it when problems first showed up, but they didn’t.

07:40 Manufacturers too often put on weak parts that are basically engineered to fail. It doesn’t matter what brand—Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Nissan—they all have their failure points. Best we can do is identify those weak links and replace them with quality parts that won’t fail.

08:42 Anyway, I’m going to stop this video for now. If you have any questions, reach out. I try to keep up with my emails. Thanks for watching—have a good one, and we’ll talk to you later.