Hi, I'm Wade from Thoroughbred Diesel, and
today we finally got our hands on the much
anticipated Banks differential cover.
All right, going to be a lot to this video
in regards to a differential cover.
Let's get started with this.
This is again, a very highly anticipated release
from Banks.
Everybody has seen the Gale Banks video about
differential covers, after market differential
covers.
This is their answer to that.
I feel like they've been a very, very good
job with this.
This is a quality unit, so let's talk about
platforms here first.
So first platform that they're going to release
is the American Axle trucks, so this is your
new model Dodges, 03 and up Dodges, and then
01 to current Chevrolet trucks with the American
Axle, or 01 and up Chevrolet trucks with the
American axle, 11 and a half inch rear end.
14 bolt.
This cover comes in two colors.
You can get it in raw aluminum like this and
you can also get it in a black.
At the time of this filming, the map price
on the aluminum is $385.
The price for the flat black is $395.
Now, it's an aluminum cover.
The biggest thing that they've done with this
that makes this completely different from
any other differential cover out there on
the market is they've actually incorporated
what they're calling a ram scoop just like
some of their other products into this differential
cover, this ram scoop, you can see that this
area here and this area here are lower than
the differential.
So what these are going to do is these are
actually going to catch air.
As the truck is moving forward down the road,
it's going to catch air there, and the directional
fins are going to bring this air across these
cooling fins on the outside of the cover,
thereby cooling the gear oil inside of the
differential.
Banks has gone with stock capacity, stock
oil capacity for the differential, so this
is going to retain your four quart capacity
for your differential, so you're not going
to be adding fluid to this.
Banks is going to control the temperatures,
control the thermal dynamics by using this
ram air design, bringing air across these
fins to help cool the differential fluid.
Now some more specifics of this.
Comes with all new hardware.
These are 12 point chrome plated bolts that
are going to come with this cover.
The cover is going to come with a half inch
fill plug.
This half inch fill plug is actually on a
21 degree tilt, I think the number was, 21
degree tilt, and what that does is that gets
your fill point for the cover at a better
angle for actually filling...
Anybody that's ever filled up the rear diff
on their truck know that there's just no easy
way to do this.
This puts that at an angle that's easier to
fill for you.
The level check plug has got a clear glass
in it so you can see the fluid in there so
you know what your fluid level is at all times.
There is a drain plug on the bottom of this
for easy draining.
It is magnetic as well, so it is going to
catch any shavings that are in there.
The top fill plug is also my magnetic as well,
so the oil that is coming from the ring gear,
if it hasn't contaminants in it, it's going
to actually get kind of a two stage process
and magnets to be able to take contaminants
out of the oil there.
Then my personal favorite as far as a feature
here, other than the air fins or the ram air
is the o-ring seal on these.
I like the o-ring seal on these because you
just don't have the mess of Permatex.
You don't have to scrape gaskets off of the
differential.
Just a lot easier when you're taking this
off and looking at something.
So there's all the hardware and the materials
that go into the cover.
Let's talk about the numbers.
All right.
In exterior heat radiation surface, the fins
of this cover, this cover has 361% more surface
area in exterior heat radiation surface than
your stock cover does.
It also has 69% more internal heat absorption
area, and that is the fins inside of the cover
itself.
Now this is retaining the rounded cover design,
so your ring gear is going to have the same
oil delivery to your pinion that your stock
cover is going to have.
The fluid is going to come up through here.
There are some directional channels in this
as well.
That's going to keep the oil going back to
the pinion and the pinion bearing to help
keep that cool.
Now you have axle tube directional fins inside
of here as well.
These axle tube directional fins are going
to keep the differential oil going to the
bearings and that's going to keep the bearings
cool as well.
You have your fins coming through right here.
These are also internal heat absorption areas.
So again, 69% increase in the internal fins
here, 361% on the exterior cover from the
stock.
Now let's talk about some of the testing that
Banks has done here.
Let's talk about the fuel economy test.
The fuel economy tests, this is kind of the
nuts and bolts of this cover.
What is this going to do for me in the long
run?
Will it save me money?
Banks is telling us yes.
From the tests that they have, from a sustained
weight test at a sustained horsepower output,
fuel consumption, this cover got one and a
half percent better fuel consumption than
the stock cover did.
What does that mean for you as the end user?
In a hundred thousand miles, a one and a half
percent increase in fuel consumption is going
to save you about $251 a year.
That dang near pays for this cover.
Now let's talk about some of the temperature
differences in between the Bank's cover and
your stock cover.
They did a heat soaking test, Banks did.
So what was that?
That's basically running up a hill carrying
a 10,000 pound trailer specifically on that,
I think it was 11,000 pound trailer's what
they had there.
They were able to prove that the Banks cover
is going to get you 12 and a half degrees
cooler on heat management during a heat soak
tests like that.
So climbing a hill with a heavy trailer.
12 and a half degrees cooler in that kind
of a condition.
It also was able to cool the the differential
fluid down 16 and a half degrees cooler on
the cooldown, that's getting down to the bottom
of the hill.
Basically road load, normal normal operating
temperature.
It definitely got 16 and a half degrees cooler
on cooldown, was able to cool the fluid down
faster with the design of this cover.
Now there a sustained dyno test is done.
Gale Banks has got a dyno much similar to
ours.
Mustang dyno.
They sat it on the dyno.
They ran a sustained speed, sustained load,
everything, they had a wind machine on the
vehicle and everything.
They were able to get a peak temperature from
the stock differential cover of 289 degrees.
289 degrees.
The same test with the Banks cover on, they
were able to get a maximum temperature of
228 degrees.
That's a 61 degree temperature in your differential
fluid.
That is a huge, huge number.
That number right there to me of all the test
results that Banks sent us, and trust me,
they sent us plenty.
These aren't numbers I'm making up.
This is all stuff that Banks actually sent
us.
In their testing, 61 degree different temperature
in your fluid for your differential.
That is a big, big decrease, so kudos to those
guys in that engineering feat.
Now let's talk about the reasons why Banks
actually went with the ram air system to bring
the air cross these fins.
What they actually found is the rear axle
of the truck, just the way that it is, from
the differential cover back, you've got 34%
wind resistance between the front of the axle
to the back of the axle, so you've actually
got a dead air zone.
So that dead air zone, you're not getting
any cooling properties that are actually being
able to go across those covers.
That's the reason why they went with this
ram air system is to be able to take the air
that wasn't being used or wasn't be disturbed
by the travel of the axle, the air that's
not disturbed, they were able to pick that
up, that air, and bring it across the cover.
Now one more technical aspect of the cover
that I kind of did not go over and want to
talk about there, on these ram scoops, these
are breakaway.
These are not lower at all than the differential
cover is itself.
Differential cover's lowest point is right
here at the bottom.
These are not any lower than that.
So as far as high centering goes, you're not
going to have that, but Gale wanted to make
sure that he was able to address any of our
consumers' concerns with that.
If you're afraid of this portion, where this
is going to not be lower but it's going to
be at a different position than your stock
cover.
He wanted to make sure that he addressed that.
He did this.
These two ears right here, these are breakaway,
so if you were to hit something on the differential
that actually comes in in this area right
here, these will break away.
He's going to clear it.
No problem.
So you're not going to have a hangup there.
That's it.
Like I said, a lot to this cover, a lot of
different numbers, a lot of different things
to be thrown at you.
You guys are going to get flooded with different
videos about that, which is great.
Just bringing some information out there to
you guys.
We wanted to attack this as what is this going
to do from you...
What is this going to do better for your truck
than your stock cover.
I feel like that's what we've done for you
today.
I'm Wade from Thoroughbred Diesel.
Thank you for watching this video.
Big thank you to the guys from Banks for sending
us one of these covers and trusting us to
do this video to be able to promote their
product.
If you have a question about this product
or any other Banks products, please give us
a call, and as always, please like and subscribe
our channel and thanks for watching our videos.
