The Banks D866T is a defense-specific 6.6-liter diesel built for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the Humvee replacement. It starts with Duramax core architecture, but it is not a pickup engine. From the block down, plus key front and rear engine systems, the build is specific to our JLTV program. GM reopened the Duramax plant in Moraine to run a dedicated batch of nearly 400 Banks base engines, then shipped them to Banks Tech in Azusa for final assembly and testing before delivery to Oshkosh Defense. That matters because military production cannot wait on a dark assembly line. This program kept the engine supply moving for a vehicle built around crew protection and mission readiness.
Gale Banks opens by explaining that the work shown is taking place at Banks Tech, a separate engine-assembly operation located just down the street from Banks Power. He notes that many people may not realize this business exists. Its role is to receive and complete specialized diesel engines built for a military application rather than for the consumer pickup market.
The immediate reason for the visit is a large delivery of engines from Duramax. According to Gale, the Duramax team came in for an extra production push and built close to 400 engines in roughly a week. For Banks, that represented about a month's worth of engine supply. The effort was unusual because GM had shut down, and Banks was running short on engines. Gale says he asked whether the workers who knew how to assemble the Banks-specific configuration could come in and build a week of production, and they did exactly that.
These engines are Banks D866T units intended primarily for the new military Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV. Gale describes the JLTV as the replacement for the Humvee and emphasizes that it represents a major advance in crew protection and overall warfighter protection. He makes clear that he is proud of Banks' participation in the program, framing it as an important contribution to military readiness.
Although the engines are based on the same core Duramax architecture, Gale stresses that they are not simply pickup-truck engines. From the engine block downward, he says, the design is all Banks. He points out visible Banks content at both ends of the engine, including the base at the rear and, at the front, the Banks viscous vibration damper assembly. He also mentions a cast-aluminum oil pan with Banks branding on the bottom, which would be one of the few identifying features visible from underneath the vehicle.
Gale explains that additional components are installed on these engines that cannot be shown publicly. Even personnel serving with deployed JLTVs might only get a partial sense of the engine's appearance because it is so deeply packaged within the vehicle. In practical terms, the engine is difficult to inspect in service, and only limited external Banks identifiers are likely to be visible.
At Banks Tech, the company receives base engines from Duramax in a partially completed Banks configuration. From there, Banks performs the remaining assembly and integration work required for the final military application. Gale indicates that this process depends not only on Banks but also on Oshkosh, the manufacturer of the JLTV, underscoring that the engine program is part of a larger coordinated production chain.
A major theme of the recap is Gale's appreciation for the Duramax production team. To fulfill Banks' needs during the shutdown period, the crew had to remove partially assembled pickup-truck engines from the line, bring in the Banks-specific hardware, stage the parts, and then begin building the military engines. Gale presents this as an extraordinary accommodation and says he has rarely worked with people he values and respects more than the crew at Duramax. He offers direct thanks to those workers, noting that they supported Banks throughout the program.
Gale closes by placing the production effort in the context of the COVID period and the uncertainty that would follow it. His conclusion is that the world will be different after the crisis, and that the military needs to be prepared for whatever comes next. In that light, the accelerated engine build was not just a manufacturing story but part of maintaining readiness for vehicles already being deployed into service.