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6.5 turbo vs ats vs banks kit is one better

84CUCV

84CUCV

3/4 ton status
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asking for a kid i meet. said he know a shop in pa going under. as all 3 set ups for sale. is one better. banks is the most and the 6.5 is the cheapest..

so what do you guys think. thanks
 
I cannot say which is better, but the 6.5 turbo set up will not fit as cleanly without mods than the ats or banks.
 
Well I have a banks setup on my suburban, and a GM-8 6.5 turbo setup on my blazer. The blazer is not up and running yet, so I cannot say if its better than the banks or not. According to everyone I have spoken to though, the 6.5 setup will spool much quicker than the banks kit. I am not very impressed with the banks setup. I am told its the stock intake that causes the banks to perform like ****, so I will be replacing it with a J code intake this week, along with 6.5 injectors, new IP, and 6.5 head gaskets. I will let ya know how it does after that.
 
us74k5 said:
According to everyone I have spoken to though, the 6.5 setup will spool much quicker than the banks kit. I am not very impressed with the banks setup. I am told its the stock intake that causes the banks to perform like ****.
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The banks turbo which came in the kits for the 6.2's uses a "Non-Wastegated Turbo" with a bigger turbine housing than the GMX series turbos. GM used a smaller wastegated turbo to help it spool quicker for more seat of the pants boost. Read boost comes on quicker at lower engine load.

There is tradeoffs between both of them. The Banks non-wastegated larger turbine housing doesnt choke the motor with high exhaust backpressure at higher boost pressures and rpm. However you have to place a larger load on the motor to get it to spool. Which most people notice as turbo lag. That being said the Larger turbine housing will allow you to run more fuel while boosting and keep your egt's in check.

The GMX Series turbos with their small housings spool at a much lower engine load and compensate for the restriction with excess exhaust pressure being dumped out the wastegate. The wastegate is to keep you from over spooling your turbo and to help keep the exhaust gas pressure in check. A friend of mine tied his wastegate shut on his GM 6.5 turbo. The thing screamed and made 15-20 pounds of boost. After about 3 months he had excessive Blowby and was blowing oil out of his dipstick. Pulled motor tore it down and found holes in 4 of his pistons. Looked like someone had taken a blow torch to them. His EGT's at such high boost with the GMX series turbo killed the pistons.

While it is worth it to get rid of the EGR crap in the intake manifold Im afraid you wont notice that big of a difference changing to the J-Code manifold on a Forced induction setup.

I would run what you can get your hands on. I found a complete banks setup for 400.00 on craigslist locally and snatched it up. I am 99% done with my motor swap after the rebuild and conversion to serpentine setup on my 85. I am still NA but plan on running the banks setup in the near future. My biggest plus towards the banks setup was the fact that I dont have to booger with the A/C box which I cant go without in the hot humid climate here in texas.
 
While I understand that you dont think swapping a J code manifold is worth it... If you head over to www.thedieselplace.com there is an entire 6.2 section. And loads of information about our beloved 6.2/6.5 motors. As well as info on what setups work best, etc. From people that have done it several times. The strong consensus over there is that a J code swap on the banks setup is a huge improvement. I already swapped mine over, havent got the truck up and running yet though. Just comparing the two manifolds it is easy to see how much better the J code will flow.
 
Thanks Mikey, now I can waste even more time on the intrawebs, instead of working on my trucks:-)
 
us74k5 said:
Thanks Mikey, now I can waste even more time on the intrawebs, instead of working on my trucks:-)
Click to expand...

:haha::haha::haha:
I know...
I need to go out and work on mine and I have been wasting all day here since I came home last night.
 
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