Banks Exhaust Brake-A Heads Up

[Lynn1130]

For those of you (us) who have the Banks Exhaust Brake on your TV here is a little tip that may save some trouble shooting, I am not talking about the plug and play Banks system but rather the mechanical/electric system.

My first indication that something was wrong was when at the first startup with the truck, I did not hear the exhaust butterfly cycle. I spent an hour or more on the phone with Banks troubleshooting the system and we found that when the key is first turned, the brake system is looking for a very specific voltage and I do mean very specific. If the voltage is a tenth of a volt off the system does not work. Mine was off by about two tenths of a volt. There is a safety reason for this but I won't go into the long story. Bottom line to all of this is that if your batteries in the truck are tired the brake system does not see the correct voltage it will refuse to operate. My batteries, at the time were about 18 months old and at the usual "fail" time for batteries in the desert (please no lecture on batteries here). I changed out the batteries and the problem went away. Until about a week ago. My brake would not work. 22 months from installing the last batteries. I took the batteries back to Costco and sure enough, tired and ready to go. New batteries and the brake system is back to normal.

So, if you turn the key one morning and do not hear the usual air pump come on, start looking at your batteries.

 

[BusManRG]

Thanks for the info. We are considering adding an exhaust brake. Other than the tired battery issue, have you been happy with the Banks system?

Rich

 

[Lynn1130]

I love it!!

The reason that I decided on Banks over the others that are out there is that it does not require maintenance like others. There are no parts that need to be lubed and the air pump noise I mentioned in the earlier post is a little self maintenance process that Banks added. Some exhaust brakes will eventually soot up and fail to open. Banks exercises the butterfly with every cold start to avoid sooting up. it also lets you know that the brake is working so you do not get a surprise on the first downgrade. In addition it stays closed until the engine temp gets to 125 degrees which helps heat the engine up faster and we all know diesels are cold blooded.

I come off of some steep, long grades between Flagstaff and Phoenix and at least one going up (Verde Canyon). The brakes keeps me at 60-65 all the way down and I never have to touch my foot brake. In some cases it slows me too much and I turn it off for a few minutes. If you have ever come down Tijeras Canyon into Albuquerque then you know how important an exhaust brake can be. That is a LONG downhill run. 55-60 all the way in my truck with 14K behind me.

This was not supposed to be an advertisement for an exhaust system but rather a heads up. There are other threads on here about different systems. A good place to start researching.

 

[MurrayN.]

I have the PacBrake system on my 03 Duramax and have been very happy with it. Slows down my 13000 lb trailer on 7% downhills without touching the brakes.

 

[superduty08]

I added the Banks speed brake and six gun tuner two years ago and love it. It's the plug and play system that works along with the tow haul/ transmission, turbo and brakes. While it has six levels of tune, I normally run it on Econ. I also recommend getting the IQ controller.

 

[JohnD]

Wish I could put an exhaust brake on my gasser . . .