Alaskan RAM in Los Angeles

LeRoy Johnson drove from Wasilla, Alaska to have his Banks parts installed at the factory. He could have had the equipment installed at a local diesel shop or even performed it himself, but this was his excuse to take a few weeks off and head 3,384 miles to warmer weather.

LeRoy is no diesel newbie. He drives dump trucks in Alaska and he’s quite the character. “I had a single rear wheel RAM 3500 before I bought this dually. It was a short-wheelbase truck. I bought a camper in California, bolted it on, and drove it home only to realize later that the camper was much too large for the truck. The wind would blow me all around. I was driving 45 mph all the way home, white-knuckling it most of the way. My wife looked at the camper and there was a red mark that said center of gravity and it was way behind the rear axle. That truck wasn’t going to cut it. Toward the end of Covid, I found this 2021 dually with 5,800 miles on it. It was one trim up from the bottom. I replaced the pickup bed with a flatbed and made a custom tray for the camper. Other than the camper, the only thing I’ve done to it was a set of AirLift 7500 air springs to help support the weight when I tow heavy, which I do a lot. This dually is rock solid going down the road. It’s so much better than my short bed.”

“I decided on this camper solely on the bathroom,” LeRoy says with a straight face. I looked at all the campers, Bigfood, Arctic Fox, Northern Lights, Lance, and Adventure. This one had the best bathroom of all of them. You have plenty of room and don’t feel confined. You laugh, but it’s a big deal when you spend a few weeks on the road. Everything about this is nicer than the Mercedes Sprinter Van that I had years ago. Everyone talks up Sprinter vans, but I’m telling you, this camper is so much nicer.” 

During his two-night camping stay in front of our building, awaiting his installation date, LeRoy bumped into Gale Banks and thanked him for his excellence in engineering. “I found your Monster-Ram intake because of the grid heater bolt failure. But what closed the deal for me was the performance. It just blows the stock elbow out of the water. After I committed to the Monster-Ram, I was all in. I ordered the Ram-Air Intake, Boost Tubes, Monster-Exhaust, and Ram-Air Diff Cover. When I go in on something, I’m all in.” And with that, LeRoy shook Gale’s hand, went inside his camper, and cooked up a grilled cheese sandwich. It was just another day for this adventurous Alaskan.