Banks turbo for the 4.0?

I have had the turbo submerged with no ill effects, nor did Banks warn about it in any of their literature, video's, or when I spoke to Banks directly. They build vehicles for the military special ops units. Also, their are a ton of video's on You Tube and if this was an issue it would have been brought up there. Gale Banks has been building turbo's forever and his company is first rate.
Oh no doubt he is. For a turbo application he'd for sure be my first stop. I'm glad to hear my concerns are unfounded. I guess on a TJ (particularly one on the trail) the EGTs arn't as high as a car on the track at redline. So the turbos arn't getting crazy hot when they are likely to get dunked. That or Banks has figured out how to build em so rapid and possibly differential cooling doesn't do damage.


There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
I have been running the Banks system including the Intercooler on my 2006 Rubicon for the last two years. It has performed flawlessly. Apparently the EO approval was revoked for all except the 2005 and 2006 TJs because the Banks site says “for race applications only” for earlier model years. Does anyone know anything about that?
 
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Speaking of the Banks Turbo, has anyone installed the blow-off valve spacer? Has it made a noticeable improvement in performance?
 
Speaking of the Banks Turbo, has anyone installed the blow-off valve spacer? Has it made a noticeable improvement in performance?

Yeah, I have one. I don't know if it added any performance. It's designed to vent the excess pressure to the atmosphere when the throttle is closed, instead of the intake, so I don't know why that would increase power.

I originally installed the turbo by itself, and saw high intake air temps on hot days. (That was before they had the intercooler available). The blow-off spacer vents the excess pressure to the outside, rather than to the intake, so I added that to help lower the intake air temps. It seemed to lower them a little, maybe 10%. It also added the compressed air burst of sound like you hear on street turbos when they shift. Some people like the sound, I would prefer to not have it, but wanted to lower the air temp. I've since added the intercooler, which lowered the intake air temp a lot, and may put the original blow-off plate back on, if I get motivated to do it and can find the original plate. I've gotten used to the sound, so it doesn't bother me any more.

Here's what Banks claims for the plate, you'll see there is nothing about increasing performance:
I never noticed any turbo lag, so I can't say if it "quickened turbo response"
  • Reduces intake air temperature
  • Vents hot air to atmosphere
  • Quickens turbo response
  • Reduces pressure on compressor wheel during drop throttle
  • Creates unmistakable sound
 
I have never considered the “unmistakable sound” an advantage and would only consider adding it if it actually improved performance. Thanks for your report back on this.
 
Yeah, it's kind of annoying. It sounds like a ricer from "fast and furious".
Sound like you need one of those horns for it that cause it to make that strange worbleing sound that really riced out cars make.


There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
I’ve heard very good things about the banks turbo also.

Well, I'm completely happy with mine. For $3,500 you can add 66 hp at the rear wheels, or for an extra $1,500 you can add 100. The kit is complete with every nut/bolt and part to install it. It can be done by someone with basic hand tools and average skill by themselves in a weekend. One part needs to be welded to the oil pan, so if you don't have a welder, you'll need to take it to someone. For CA residents, it's CARB certified.

There are several forced air kits for Jeeps, mechanical-driven superchargers and turbo-supercharges. I haven't met anyone who didn't like adding forced air to their Jeep, no matter what brand or type they used.
 
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I have been running the Banks system including the Intercooler on my 2006 Rubicon for the last two years. It has performed flawlessly. Apparently the EO approval was revoked for all except the 2005 and 2006 TJs because the Banks site says “for race applications only” for earlier model years. Does anyone know anything about that?

I had not heard anything about this, and did not find anything with a quick google search. I also could not find anything on the Banks site. Do you have a link to the page where they mention it?

The intercooler kit for the 2005 - 2006 has a different part number than the kit for the pre-2005, so they would require a different CARB EO number. So the CARB EO number for the '05 - '06 would not be valid for the previous years.
 
This is the Banks Power webpage for the 2003-2004 Sidewinder Turbo kit. Note the comment "for race applications only." There is a similar disclaimer for the 1999.5 to 2002 Sidewinder kit.

There is a single EO on the CARB website that covers 1999 to 2006. It is D-161-97.

1546719650470.png


The page below is for the 2005 to 2006 Sidewinder and shows the EO number rather than the "for race applications only" disclaimer.

1546719969323.png
 
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Has anyone had any issues , with any system , with the programming?
 
This is the Banks Power webpage for the 2003-2004 Sidewinder Turbo kit. Note the comment "for race applications only." There is a similar disclaimer for the 1999.5 to 2002 Sidewinder kit.

There is a single EO on the CARB website that covers 1999 to 2006. It is D-161-97.

View attachment 70840

The page below is for the 2005 to 2006 Sidewinder and shows the EO number rather than the "for race applications only" disclaimer.

View attachment 70841

I live in Seattle so my experience will not help you, I took mine to emissions this year and it passed with no issues.