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The Race Shop
Most companies call it Research and Development. Here at Banks, we call it the Race Shop. I think of it as the toy room.
But calling it the Race Shop is not a bit far-fetched. This shop has not only turned out several true-blood race cars, but it has also produced several world record holders. That is a pregnant statement. The emphasis, here, is on several.
There are plenty of corporations, around the world, that sponsor winning race vehicles. There are a few that actually produce them. But I can't think of many that have produced as many record-setters as Gale Banks, and this goes back to the days of endurance racing boats, as well as cars.Posted by Pat Ganahl on January 24, 2003Winning Dodge
Well, here's one for you Dodge boys (and girls). Specifically, I'm talking about the members of Turbo Diesel Register, otherwise known as TDR.
The TDR is actually based on a quarterly publication that started in 1993 with a stated purpose to be "an open forum for the exchange of information from the manufacturers to the owners," and "to give Dodge diesel owners more satisfaction in the ownership of their truck." The TDR magazine is a collection of regular columns written by a variety of authors, two of whom are John and Polly Holmes. John's "Ranch Dressing" column refers to their 2JP (John and Polly) Ranch in Silver Springs, NV, about an hour east of Reno, where they raise goats and other animals with exotic "coats" for Polly's hobby/business of producing "fiber" for spinning into yarns for knitting or weaving. John is retired, but still spends one day a week (Wednesdays) at Carson Dodge in Carson City, doing "special projects." TDR members know he's there, and bring in their trucks when they want something "special" done to them.Posted by Pat Ganahl on January 17, 2003At the Install
A couple of weeks ago, when I showed you all the different departments of employees here at Banks Engineering (at the Christmas party), I said I'd tell you more about the Install group in a week or two. Well, make it two.
I guess it should technically be called the Banks Factory Installation Center, but all of us here refer to it simply as Install.
Every day, five days a week, we normally have five to eight trucks and motorhomes in the Install building (or just outside) getting new Banks products—you guessed it—installed. Inside the building there are five lifts and work stations, three of 9,000 pound capacity and two of 15,000 pounds, so they can handle most any kind of pickup or flat bed trucks, gas or diesel. Outside, in a partially enclosed area (which one of the installers referred to as the "Banks motorhome cabana") are two large drive-on lifts of 27,000 pound capacity each and 20 feet long, so they can handle any type of gasoline motorhome we've seen so far. The diesel "pusher" rigs (motorhomes with a diesel engine mounted north-to-south in the rear, behind the rear axle—by far the most common type) are so heavy that they must be worked on on the ground, so there is another stall for them in the "cabana," next to the two lifts.Posted by Pat Ganahl on January 10, 2003
