First Fire | Building a Monster Truck 5

After months of planning, Gale and the Banks Engineering team get ready for the first fire of the supercharged Duramax engine. It’s the big reveal and Gale is excited! Watch as they discover an issue that will force them to make an addition to the engine.

The first fire plan is to run it up to 5,000 RPM on the dyno. We’re hoping to see what the blower looks like in terms of parasitic consumption. After going over every detail of the engine, we fire this mofo up! The Banks iDash DataMonsters are all running and Gale and Mike go to the dyno control center.

One of the key things Gale is looking for on this first fire is the temperatures going in and out of the blower. The mass air temperature (MAT) inside the blower goes up to almost 400 degrees and it’s not good news. Consequently, they back off and shut it down until next time.

Before getting into the numbers pulled from the Banks iDash DataMonster, Gale talks about Superchargers and his start with them. He got his start in the mid-1950s with a guy named Stu Hillborn.

Finally, in the next episode, we Kill a Supercharger. This roots-style supercharger produces insane heat! In an attempt to reduce the temps, Gale Banks injects water-methanol and straight methanol. But it doesn’t turn out the way he planned.