Brad Sanky – 2005 Duramax
Photos provided courtesy of Diesel Power Magazine and used with permission.
To say that Brad Sanky’s 2005 Duramax is modified… well that’d be an understatement. Aside from a bevy of upgrades that he was running in the 2019 Diesel Power Challenge held in Colorado he had a big single performance turbo, a Borg Warner S480 80mm with a 96 turbine, replacing his stock turbo system. Making big horsepower numbers wasn’t a problem, but his eventual transmission failure caused him to park the truck right before the COVID pandemic. Brad isn’t one to just sit still, so during this downtime the transmission is being refitted with stronger internals, and that big single turbo has been removed to make way for a triple compound system. He’s actually been picking the brains of the Banks engineers on the turbo selections with the goal of making the most power he can efficiently.
In the Diesel Power Challenge every truck was outfitted with a Banks iDash DataMonster and sensor modules to measure various temps and pressure, the most important of which was Manifold Air Density. That competition was held in Colorado where the high altitude changed the performance of each truck. This info allowed them all to better tune the trucks, and see where power-robbing problems might be. Having all this info made Brad a believer. “I’m currently also using the iDash DataMonster on my tow rig and race truck,” said Brad, “With the iDash and the sensors placed where I need them, it allows me to monitor everything.” He’s planning what sensors he needs and where to place them for his upcoming triple charger system. “It’ll be virtually the same sensor system that I had back at DPC, with the addition of every compressor outlet being monitored, monitoring the drive pressure in the exhaust manifold and in between stages, residual pressure in the downpipe, and turbo speed across all three turbos.
After getting the information off my iDash and speaking with the Banks engineering team the plan is to have two 4” individual intakes that will Y together into a single 6” making that into an airbox with a high-flowing filter. This way I’ll be able to get a more accurate reading on mass air flow. That’ll help me with figuring out low-end fueling so that I can try to keep it cleaner. As for fueling I’m pretty much set up from my last turbo, I’ve got enough overhead to play with. The real goal here is to have a lot of power available without being a smoky pig. I plan to run the truck in the 2021 King of the Street.”
Brad was also chosen to be a Banks Test Pilot for a pre-production Banks Ram-Air Differential Cover. What people don’t know is that the diff cover was bolted on during the entire competition in order to collect data and send back to Banks. “It’s pretty darn impressive! The way that it keeps the fluid cool was something that I really didn’t expect. Another thing is that as soon as I replaced the existing PPE cover with the Banks one I stopped having wheel bearing problems. Up to that point every year I had to either tighten or replace my passenger side wheel bearing. I had always followed PPE’s oil fill instructions, so I don’t think it was a lack of lubrication as much as it was a lack of lubrication in the terms of oil flow.”
