New Life for ’97 Power Stroke

Dean McDonald has had his Ford Power Stroke since he drove it off the Ford lot in 1997. It remained bone-stock until now. “It’s been a great truck,” says Dean. “It’s been stock until I installed the Banks Stinger-Plus Bundle and Ram-Air Differential Cover. The truck has about 250,000 miles, and she’s still going strong which is why I had no problem upgrading it.”

“We had a trailer for the past 22 years and decided recently to upgrade to a larger one that’s just shy of what the truck can legally tow. It’s fine on the flats, but it was struggling going up the hills. We travel quite often on that same road that’s in the TV series ‘Highway to Hell,’ and our truck needed some help. We looked at new trucks, but they were crazy expensive! So, I started to look around, and I ran across videos and information that led me to the Banks’ website, where I found the data I needed to make the decision. I was super impressed with the engineering. And, I like that Banks promises to protect the host-vehicle.”

Impressed with the differential cover video series, Dean wanted to get the Ram-Air Diff Cover because of the terrain that he travels. “It’s a fairly inexpensive part that will pay for itself in the long run. I’m thrilled with all of the results! The truck has more jams; it’s like driving a totally different truck. It sounds great, too! It would struggle at highway speeds, and now power is effortless. I’m looking at the intercooler for a future upgrade.”

“I let a buddy drive my truck and he was blown away. See, he had one of these trucks back in the day, and he remembers how it performed. He was so impressed that he looked up what was available for his 2022 Duramax, and now he’s just as happy as I am.”