Posted: Jul 09 2004 at 9:10pm | IP Logged

I just got a Banks Monster Exhust system on my  king cab,off road , big tow.  I had researched alot and went fromtalkin about a performance muffler  only to the cat back system. I did this becaused I was told that increasing the diameter of the pipes from 2 1/2" to 3 "  will reduce the amount of backpressure. and add HP and help gas mileage. This system has a enlarged Y pipe at the connestion of the two coming from the catalytic converters.The Banks system has a small canister muffler that is straight thru, and it has special insulation the quiet the droaning sound of straightpipes.

I have to say , I like the sound of the exhaust, you realy hear 1st thru 3rd gears ,then highway cruising at 70 mph it reminds you that there is plenty of HP to pass traffic.  My only concern is that because of the decrease in backpressure, I feel that I have sacrificed tourqe. In a way although I sound that I am going quite fast, off the line I dont think I'm as quick.

However I put this exhaust system on , and added a K & N drop in filter, to help improve gas mileage.  My 1st 4 fill ups were, 12.2 , 12.6 , 15.2 , 13.6.mpg. Now after  the exhaust system added , I got 16.3 ( IMPRESSIVE ! ), and 11.98.mpg. the later can be explained because I let my brother in law take it for a spin and it came back smoking, he really was impressed with how smooth it was and all the HP.

This system is pricey , but everything for this model seems to be that way, what is nice about this system is that it bolts cleanly to all stock hangers. it was installed for me in 45 min.

I would suggest werever you go, question the decrease in backpressure and compare it to loss of torque, as a matter of fact if anyone can enlighten me on this I would be pleased.