We do the work in-house because the parts have to function as a system, not as a pile of separate components. That means CAD design, rapid prototyping, flow-bench work, electronics, engine dyno testing, chassis dyno testing, and real-world data acquisition all have to agree. The core rule is simple: diesel power starts with airflow. If you have not fixed the air side, you have no business adding fuel. That is why we put so much effort into intake development, manifold design, and controlled testing. The Banks Ram-Air Intake System shown here is developed from digital vehicle data, prototyped in-house, and checked for airflow and sensor behavior before it ever becomes a finished part. The same thinking carries through the engine and dyno rooms. We strengthen the lower end, manage airflow through the heads and manifolds, and test under controlled conditions with enough air movement to simulate real road speed. Then we take the instrumentation into the truck and measure performance in the real world. That is how you get numbers that mean something when the truck leaves the shop.
The tour opens with a look at the range of vehicles developed at Banks and the philosophy behind them. Gale explains that hot rodding has been his hobby for 48 years, and the shop reflects that long-term focus on building and testing serious performance machinery. Among the projects on display are a Pro Stock-style V8 diesel Duramax drag racer, an off-road V8 diesel Ford, and the world's fastest pickup truck: an inline-six Cummins-powered Dodge that set an international record at 222 mph. Another truck in the collection is notable because it tows its own trailer to the Salt Flats.
One of the most ambitious in-house projects is the Banks Sidewinder Dmax Type R, a road-race diesel truck built to compete against Ferraris, Porsches, and Corvettes. It uses a V8 diesel making 700 horsepower and was conceived as a complete ground-up engineering exercise. Banks says the project began with a bare concrete floor. From there, the team designed and built the chassis, designed and built the powertrain, clayed the body, pulled molds from that shape, and produced carbon-fiber body panels.
The purpose of projects like this is not simply to create a race vehicle, but to push diesel platforms to their limits in demanding environments. Gale notes that the truck is being developed for road-racing events lasting up to 25 hours. The broader engineering goal is to take every diesel platform available, stress it to the edge, and use what is learned there to improve products for street-driven pickup trucks. He also points to Banks' prior offshore racing work with turbocharged engines and mentions that the company built the first street-driven car to exceed 200 mph in magazine testing, appearing on the cover of Car and Driver with a twin-turbo small-block Chevy.
A major theme of the tour is that Banks keeps design and development in house. In the CAD room, Gale contrasts traditional drafting with modern computer-based design. One longtime employee is jokingly referred to as the draftsman, while the younger engineers work as CAD designers. The example shown is a Banks Ram-Air intake system for the Duramax diesel.
The process begins by digitizing the truck and loading that geometry into the computer so components can be designed directly within the vehicle package. The engineer shown is working on an inlet duct for cold-air induction. A rapid prototype of the part is then produced from the CAD file. Although the prototype is built in sections and cemented together, it functions like the finished part and can immediately be used for evaluation. That allows the team to move directly to flow-bench testing, verify airflow behavior, and determine the proper position of the MAF sensor so the part works correctly with the engine-management system. Gale's point is that the concept has to function as a complete system, not just as an isolated part.
The same in-house approach extends beyond mechanical parts. Banks handles electronics internally as well, including schematic design, circuit-board design, software, manufacturing, programming, and testing. Gale emphasizes that this level of control matters because all of the components must work together in harmony. The air intake, exhaust, tuner, and electronics are developed as coordinated pieces rather than as unrelated aftermarket parts.
That systems-level integration is presented as one of the company's core advantages. By controlling the design of each subsystem, Banks can make sure the finished package behaves properly as a whole rather than forcing the customer to sort out compatibility problems after installation.
In the engine room, the discussion turns to the mechanical changes required to make a diesel engine both faster and more durable. Beyond standard clearancing and balancing work, Banks knife-edges the crankshaft counterweights to reduce turbulence. The team also CNC-machines a dry-sump oil pan of its own design. Gale describes the pan as about 2 inches thick and fitted with bridges that span across the main caps, reinforcing them so the crankshaft stays in the block under high cylinder pressures.
That oil-pan structure serves multiple purposes. In addition to supporting the main-cap area, it strengthens the entire lower end of the engine and improves ground clearance. The cylinder heads are also CNC-machined, and Banks frequently replaces the intake manifold arrangement entirely. On some engines, the manifold is machined off the head and replaced with a Banks-designed piece. The example shown is one of two manifolds used on the V8. Port matching is maintained throughout, and the manifold seals to the cylinder head with O-rings rather than gaskets.
Gale ties the engine modifications back to a central diesel-engineering principle: airflow must be addressed before additional fuel is added. In his view, if airflow has not been improved, there is no business adding more fuel to a diesel engine. He presents that as a simple cause-and-effect rule. Without sufficient airflow, extra fuel is just a path to failure rather than a path to power.
That statement explains why so much of the development effort shown in the shop centers on intake design, manifold design, turbo system behavior, intercooling, and measurement. The message is that diesel performance is fundamentally an airflow problem first, and fueling changes only make sense once the engine can ingest and manage the required air.
The tour also includes a refreshed version of one of Banks' earlier hallmark gasoline-engine designs, a twin-turbo small-block Chevy concept first developed in the late 1970s. Gale says Banks built the first magazine-tested vehicle to exceed 200 mph with one of these engines. The updated version uses fuel injection, a large throttle body, twin turbos, dual wastegates, and a serpentine-belt accessory drive.
He also points to the plenum as an area where significant air-management work takes place, particularly in controlling airflow when the throttles close so the system avoids turbo lag. The engine is rated at 1,115 horsepower at 6,800 rpm and produces more than 900 lb-ft of torque through nearly the entire operating range. Despite those numbers, Gale describes it as extremely streetable and says he has one installed in the shop's black Chevy rat-rod truck.
Testing infrastructure is another major part of the story. Banks operates multiple fully instrumented dynamometer cells, including a high-speed engine dyno capable of 12,000 rpm and a high-torque diesel engine dyno capable of handling 3,000 lb-ft of torque. Gale says the instrumentation allows him to know exactly what is happening in every system of the engine. Engine dyno testing establishes flywheel horsepower and provides controlled, repeatable data before the powertrain is installed in a vehicle.
From there, development moves to the chassis dyno, because what ultimately matters to the customer is power at the rear wheels. The chassis dyno shown is rated for 1,500 horsepower. Its rollers are gear-belted together so the vehicle drives both rollers. The facility is designed for continuous, repeatable testing rather than short demonstration pulls. Gale explains that if an intercooled diesel is going to be tested properly, the dyno cell must provide highway-level airflow; otherwise intercooler development, radiator cooling, and exhaust-gas-temperature consistency cannot be achieved.
To solve that problem, the chassis dyno room uses a large airflow system producing 30,000 cfm, which Gale equates to 15 horsepower of airflow at 60 mph. The air is directed not only at the front of the truck but also underneath it. Additional blower systems feed eight pipes under the slab so air rises to cool the tires and the eddy-current absorbers. This prevents tire slip from distorting horsepower readings and allows sustained chassis-dyno testing with repeatable results.
Even that is not the final step. Gale says people do not drive engine dynos or chassis dynos; they drive trucks. For that reason, Banks puts the dyno room in the truck through onboard data acquisition and then tests in the real world. The company measures its own performance and compares it with competitors using the same truck, on the same day, with the same driver. The conclusion is that advertised performance claims are based on measured, real-world results rather than estimates, and that when a customer installs a Banks product, it is expected to perform as stated because the numbers have already been validated outside the lab.