The hard part on the 2017-19 6.7L Power Stroke is getting more cold, dense air to the turbo with the battery still sitting in front of the airbox. The stock box pulls from one front source, uses only part of the filter, and adds restriction through the lid, grid, bellows, and inlet shape. We fixed that with the Banks Ram-Air Intake System: a smooth enclosed airbox, a second inlet under the box, a much larger angled filter, and bellows that move with the engine without disturbing the airflow inside the tube. That combination cut restriction and kept intake temperature down where it matters—at the compressor inlet. On the flow bench it reached 59.25 lb/min at 15 in. of water, 49% over stock, and our road testing showed stronger intake air density than the other systems tested. For the truck owner, that means better throttle response, more consistent power under load, and cleaner air delivery to the turbo without relocating the battery or pulling hot air from the wrong place.
At Banks Power's race shop in Azusa, the video introduces the Ram-Air intake system for 2017-2019 Ford Super Duty trucks equipped with the 6.7-liter Power Stroke. The central claim is that the intake outperformed competing systems both in laboratory flow-bench testing and in on-road density testing. Banks emphasizes that its real-world evaluation measures temperature and pressure not just at the airbox, but all the way down to the compressor inlet. According to the presentation, lower pressure loss and lower inlet temperature increase air density, which improves efficiency and supports more power.
The kit is also presented as a straightforward home installation, requiring about 45 minutes and only basic hand tools. Before explaining the Banks design, the video first examines the factory intake system to show where airflow and density are being lost.
The factory airbox uses a duct arrangement shaped around the battery location. Because the battery sits in front of the airbox, Ford routes incoming air through a scoop under the battery tray, reconnecting to a front grille duct that pulls air from the front of the truck, over the radiator, down through the scoop, and into the airbox. Banks acknowledges that this single-entry arrangement is beneficial in one respect: it draws cold, fresh air from the front of the vehicle. However, the company argues that the design limits total airflow capacity.
Inside the factory box, the filter is fed only from the lower half of the enclosure. Banks argues that this causes the lower pleats to load with dirt first, forcing incoming air to find alternate paths through a confined space. The top lid also fails to use the full available filter surface area, and a grid in the lid is described as an additional source of drag and restriction. In Banks' view, the factory airbox sacrifices density rather than preserving it, reducing the intake system's performance potential.
Beyond the airbox itself, Banks points to the factory bellows and inlet geometry as additional restrictions. The stock corrugated bellows are necessary to accommodate engine movement, but Banks argues that the corrugations create drag and resistance as air passes through them. In practical terms, the company says the effective internal cross-section becomes smaller than the nominal tube size, reducing flow.
The factory system also uses relatively harsh bends and a narrowing transition into the oval-shaped turbo inlet. According to the video, meaningful performance is left on the table in three main areas: the filter, the lid, and the front ducting. These observations set up the rationale for the Banks redesign.
Banks explains that its final Ram-Air airbox design came after prototype testing. Early versions that reached over the battery actually flowed less, so the company settled on a layout that routes airflow underneath instead. The airbox is made from cross-linked polyethylene rather than the injection-molded plastic used in the factory unit. Banks says this material is stronger and more durable, while also allowing the box to be formed without external or internal reinforcing ribs. The result is a smoother interior intended to reduce airflow disturbance.
The system continues to use the original front duct that connects to the grille scoop, but it adds a second inlet underneath the box to draw air from beneath the vehicle. Because the design does not require moving components around the engine bay, the battery remains in its factory location. Banks presents this as a cleaner and simpler solution than systems that require relocation brackets or other structural changes.
A major part of the Ram-Air system is Banks' so-called Big Ass Filter, which the company describes as the largest and freest-flowing filter in this market segment. Banks states that it has more surface area than comparable filters from aFe and S&B. The filter is custom-designed specifically for the Ram-Air system, including pleat count, pleat depth, filter media, and even the outer wire mesh. Based on Banks' figures, this approach makes the filter between 39 and 56 percent less restrictive. The outlet opening is also described as much larger, with Banks claiming it is three times the size of S&B's filter outlet. The filter is angled downward inside the airbox so that dirt or debris entering the pleats has a better chance of falling out rather than collecting inside.
The upper lid is shaped to mate directly with the filter's upper collar, smoothing the transition from the filter into the turbo inlet path. Banks describes the lid and upper box as having a smooth, organic shape intended to minimize drag and resistance.
The intake elbows are made from EPDM synthetic rubber rather than silicone. Banks says EPDM is more rigid while still remaining flexible, which helps it resist collapse under turbo inlet vacuum. It is also described as more resistant to cuts, abrasions, heat, cold, moisture, and general engine-bay exposure. The elbows incorporate bellows for engine movement, but unlike the factory design, the bellows slide over the intake tube and lock into place so that airflow travels through the smooth tube beneath them. In Banks' explanation, the air stream effectively does not encounter the bellows at all. The assembly also includes a coolant-hose rest for the factory hoses.
On the flow bench, Banks reports that the Ram-Air intake reached 59.25 pounds per minute at 15 inches of water. According to the video, that represents a 49 percent improvement over stock. Banks also states that the system outperformed S&B and that its gains were three and a half times greater than those achieved by the aFe intake in the same testing.
Even with those laboratory results, Banks says its mechanical engineering group wanted to validate performance outside the lab. That led to a series of road tests using pressure and temperature sensors placed at multiple points in the intake tract, including the front inlet area, the airbox, and the compressor inlet. The goal was to determine how each intake behaved once vehicle motion, underhood heat, and real driving conditions were introduced.
The video then reviews the competing systems tested during the on-road density evaluations. In the case of the aFe airbox assembly, Banks notes that it reuses the factory lower duct, but says the duct opening and the airbox do not align cleanly. The resulting gap is described as a source of pressure loss and reduced flow. Banks also critiques aFe's optional scoop, which reaches over the battery while still using the factory lower duct. In Banks' assessment, this does not meaningfully increase total incoming airflow because it mainly splits the original airflow path through narrow openings. Despite aiming for colder front-end air, Banks says the aFe system produced the most drag of any aftermarket intake tested and ranked last among them, ahead of only the factory setup.
S&B is described as taking the opposite approach by relocating the battery and shifting the airbox assembly. Banks strongly criticizes this strategy, arguing that it places a roughly 50-pound battery on a bracket attached to the intake structure through a large angle-iron support. The concern raised is durability and safety: repeated impacts from potholes, freeway bumps, or off-road driving would repeatedly load the bracket and intake in a way Banks considers inappropriate. The relocation also requires extending the battery cables, and Banks notes that S&B includes heat shrink and extra wiring to accomplish that modification.
Banks says the S&B intake was instrumented with sensors at the front, at the side fender inlet, at the rear vents, and down by the compressor so that pressure and temperature changes could be tracked throughout the intake path. One of the tested configurations involved driving with the box open. S&B also includes a plug for sealing the opening, but Banks argues that when sealed, the plug behaved like a one-way mirror that allowed more heat into the box and raised internal temperature. Based on those observations, Banks concludes that the S&B system did not function as a true cold-air intake and instead accumulated heat.
Banks then presents the results for its own Ram-Air system under the same style of real-world testing. Compared with the factory intake, the Ram-Air was said to be half as restrictive. It also reduced intake temperatures not only at the front of the system, but at the compressor inlet itself. Banks argues that lower restriction combined with a colder incoming charge increases density and mass airflow where it matters most.
To verify that no useful cold-air source had been overlooked, Banks engineers also modified one prototype with a large side inlet near the passenger-side fender. Testing showed that this area was receiving 125-degree air, which is why the production design seals that region off rather than drawing from it.
Banks summarizes the outcome by stating that the Ram-Air was the freest-flowing intake tested, with the greatest mass airflow, the lowest pressure drop, and the lowest intake-air temperatures. For a stock truck, the claimed benefits are improved throttle response and better engine efficiency because the engine is supplied with cooler, drier air. The video places particular emphasis on power consistency during towing or sustained uphill driving, where prolonged throttle application can raise intake temperatures, then exhaust temperatures, and ultimately reduce power.
In that context, Banks frames the Ram-Air intake as a way to maintain more stable performance under load rather than simply chasing peak numbers. The company also notes that on tuned trucks, where additional fuel is being added, the gains can become more substantial because airflow demand is higher. The overall conclusion is that the intake's value lies in preserving air density through lower restriction and lower temperature across both controlled testing and real driving conditions.