2019 RAM 3500 Crew Cab Dually

Alan Sheain has been a Banks customer for years, trusting the power and reliability for both his personal and business trucks. Reliability is a huge concern to his livelihood as a professional transporter and horse breeder. “I have horses that I need to get from one place to another,” said Alan. “Who’s going to be able to help me if I’m on the side of the road? I have to get them to a safe place. The truck just needs to be THAT reliable. That’s why I always run Banks. I’ve never been left on the side of the road.”

Alan recently purchased the Banks Ram-Air Differential Cover for all of his trucks and threw out all of the Mag Hytec ones that he’d previously been running after watching Gale’s video. “It all made sense! I never really realized what that loud noise was coming from the diff until I saw what was happening on the inside in that video that showed the clear flatback.” Alan also bought products for Humvees from Banks back when he used to work on them because as Alan puts it, “Banks was the only one that was making stuff to fix the cooling issues that they were having. I’ve just known Gale Banks as someone who has been fixing the OE’s problems for years.”

When Alan purchased his most recent truck, a 2019 RAM 3500 dually, he ran into problems. The truck was a victim in the wake of VW’s “diesel-gate”, and was detuned from the factory so that it could be sold. He purchased what was advertised as a 500 hp truck with 980 lb-ft of torque, but something felt off. The truck wasn’t any more powerful than other trucks that he owned. In fact, it felt less powerful. Alan put the truck on the dyno and found that it had only around 500 lb-ft of torque and 280 hp to the ground. He called the dealership who informed him that he signed a document when he bought the truck saying that he would take the truck as delivered with a lower power rating. He looked at his paperwork and sure enough—they slipped it by him.

After seeing that Banks didn’t have a tuner for the truck yet he turned to the tuning world. Searching for a safe tune that would bring the truck close to the advertised power and torque while keeping his emissions equipment intact, Alan found hope in a tuner from Germany. “It has to work well and not blow any smoke. Keep in mind that I’m in the horse business. They require a ton of fresh air, and if I smoke them out to get more power… well that would be beyond dangerous and foolhardy. They used an original Cummins ‘vocational’ tune for that engine, something out of a municipal vehicle like a trash truck, which was rated close to 600 hp and 1,200 torque.

”With running 16-ply 36” semi tires Alan put the truck on the dyno again to test its newfound power and found that it was now making 1,100 lb. ft. and 560 hp, but there was something wrong. “I did everything to get the power that I needed, and when I mashed the throttle down and the truck just didn’t go I was like… COME ON, ARE YOU FREAK’N KIDDING ME?!?! WHAT ELSE NEED’S TO BE DONE? The Aisin transmission just hated life, and really had a disconnect with the throttle input. The shift points are terrible and it acted as if it just doesn’t know what is going on with the truck. When you have horses in the trailer and you need to get across traffic or just go your heart drops because the truck just won’t go! I sometimes had to rev the engine with the brake on in order to build power. I also drive big rigs for a living, and when you hit the throttle you need to go because if you don’t you could cause a major wreak or you won’t get the opportunity to go again sometimes for another 20 minutes… and that equates to even more stupid decisions.”

Alan found a solution in Banks. “So I decided to put the PedalMonster on my truck, and boy was I surprised. On ‘SPORT’ mode it’ll break the tires loose. In the highest setting this giant-ass truck is able to haze the tires, and I can do donuts in the parking lot. And when it’s a little wet outside it gets even more fun, because when I turn the traction control off I can drift this 11,000 lb. truck. Another bonus is the transmission shift points have been resolved! The transmission seems to know what’s going on finally, and I can adjust the throttle sensitivity to be powerful yet gentle enough to tow anything properly. This little device made the biggest difference in my truck and my business, and I couldn’t be more pleased.”