Banks Power is known far and wide as the premier designer and manufacturer of power-enhancing products for diesel- and gas-powered light trucks, motorhomes, and sport-utility vehicles. Since the 1960s, Gale Banks futuristic high-performance engines have broken new ground and set world records. His marine engines propelled racing boats to national and world championships. After decades of racing, Banks Power is still the only company to have set records at Bonneville in both automobile and truck classes.
The bedrock integrity of Gale Banks is at the very core of Banks Power. Gale’s fundamental principles combine old-fashioned business ethics and service with leading technology, elegantly engineered products, superior construction, scientifically proven performance, and competitive prices.
COMPANY HISTORY
More than sixty years of engineering milestones for Banks Power president and founder Gale Banks began at age 14 with an engine teardown of his mother’s ’31 Ford Model A that resulted in an increase of 65 horsepower. Just two years later, in 1958, Gale was officially in the engine business, first in Lynwood, California, then in San Gabriel. He remains the hands-on president to the manufacturing and engineering complex that today occupies 12 acres in the San Gabriel Valley town of Azusa. Banks Power is known far and wide as the premier designer and manufacturer of power-enhancing products for diesel- and gas-powered light trucks, motorhomes, and sport-utility vehicles.
Since the 1960s, Gale’s futuristic high-performance engines have broken new ground while shattering world records. Banks Power is still the only company to have set records at Bonneville in both automobile and truck classes. Banks’ marine engines propelled racing boats to national and world championships.
In his quest for greater engine performance and endurance, Gale continued his racing endeavors, setting his first speed record, 189 mph in 1960 at El Mirage dry lake, with a modified 1953 Studebaker. Since then, Gale has been in the winner’s circle countless times, setting a litany of marine and automotive performance marks and laying claim to such titles as World’s Fastest Passenger Car, World’s Fastest Pickup, World’s Fastest Motorhome, and, most recently, World’s Fastest Diesel Drag Racing Truck.
The bedrock integrity of Gale Banks is at the very core of Banks Power. Gale’s fundamental principles combine old-fashioned business ethics and service with leading technology, elegantly engineered products, superior construction, scientifically proven performance, and competitive prices.
In military mode, Banks engines were chosen to power U.S. Navy SEAL covert-action boats. Banks Technologies, a Gale Banks Engineering division, was awarded the contract to supply Oshkosh Defense with its V8 diesel 866T engine to power all Joint Light Tactical Vehicles.
As a recognized authority, Gale has taught engine design to graduate students at General Motors Institute, covering many subjects: engine architecture, turbochargers (design and application), fuel systems, exhaust systems, marine turbocharging, ignitions and camshafts, intercooling, and more.
The Banks company history is studded with technological achievements, including Gale’s pioneering work in turbocharging marine engines in 1969; the premiere of twin-turbo small-block Chevy engines in 1978; the invention (and patent) of the Banks OttoMind electronic fuel-management module in 1997; transmission control systems, exhaust scavenging systems, and the recent invention (and patent) of the iDash DataMonster, the only instrument to calculate, log and display an exclusive suite of engine parameters including Manifold Air Density.
Banks prides itself on being a company of engineers who see the future, pin the accelerator pedal, and aim right toward it.
CAPABILITIES OF BANKS POWER
Banks capabilities go above and beyond that of their competitors. At Banks Power, they take the performance of your truck seriously. Why can they say that they are the best in the industry? Because they are. And they have the capabilities, records and OEM/Military partnerships to prove it. What makes a great product, it’s the knowledge and experience that understands what that product needs to accomplish.
Anyone can bend pipe or weld sheets of metal together, but it takes an in depth understanding of the entire powertrain to know what works best. And that is what they do, they eat, sleep and breathe powertrain performance.
Banks Innovation
The legacy and technological leadership of Gale Banks Engineering in the diesel aftermarket is unquestioned. With its long history of breakthrough innovations (many patented!) in high performance gas and diesel engine development—including turbocharging and drive train—Banks has no rival. Time and again, Banks has proven its design, engineering and manufacturing prowess in whole vehicle development/modification, including Project Sidewinder, Banks/GMC Syclone and the big block twin-turbo Pontiac Firebird.
Banks Engineering
First and foremost, Banks is an engineering firm. Established in 1958, Banks has grown to 100+ employees on a 12-acre campus. The Mechanical Engineering Department, staffed with world-class automotive people, designs and tests the latest high performance equipment. In the Race Shop, Banks’ special project vehicles feature cutting-edge diesel and gasoline development, multiple turbo applications, mind-boggling horsepower and head-turning style. Sophisticated electronic engineering technologies are applied to engine improvement in the rapidly growing Computer Systems Engineering Department. Gale Banks Engineering designs turbocharged engines from the centerline of the crankshaft, out.
Banks Prototyping
Gale Banks Engineering is the company others come to for advanced research and development, including “outside the box” projects for both product feasibility and image-generating media attention. Major automakers, including Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Volvo and Pontiac, have relied on Banks’ expertise and capabilities.
Banks Testing When it comes to testing, Banks’ engineers are as ruthless as they are uncompromising. Only the most advanced equipment and facilities are used for testing and re-testing existing products, production prototypes and experimental designs for performance, durability and compatibility. Ongoing testing ensures unparalleled functionality, product endurance and quality control.
Banks Manufacturing
The Banks difference is clearly demonstrated in its Manufacturing Division. While many aftermarket suppliers farm-out designs or assemble “grab-bag kits” from various sources, Banks manufactures to exacting specifications every product it designs.
Banks Capability
Gale Banks Engineering applies an unmatched combination of experience, capabilities and design/engineering/manufacturing savvy to provide automotive services and solutions that keep raising the aftermarket industry bar.