Have any of you ran any Mad Dog Headers? Their prices are kinda towards the pricey side of headers. I am looking at their fender-well exit's for a 390. Are their any other brands that you guys know that make fender-well exits for the 390?

 

AFAIK Mad Dog is the only outfit making fenderwell exits for the FE

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-do-exist.html

 

Ok thanks, did they fit well, its kinda a cliff hanger on that thread lol.

 

IIRC Grinnergetter was pretty pleased with the headers fitment and quality.

 

OK I'll have to PM him and see how they were!

 

I haven't been able to find many reviews but a guy on 460 forum ran them on a big dollar 600 hp build which kinda makes me think they are alright.

 

Look in thread "Raymonds Story..Budget build". All mods or trimming necessary is there.
The folks here beat up the guys welds a bit, well they pretty much slammed him.

Could they have been prettier? Yea I suppose so. Headers are fine and I don't think they will give you much trouble with installation.

You could have issues with that massive block that holds the u joint for the steering column. I believe it's going to force me into a borgeson eventually.

 

I remember when folks were slammin him.
I went ahead and bought a set anyway and am very happy with the welds and workmanship.
I have not installed them yet as I'm still collecting parts.

 

I think its impossible to be very happy with a set of headers until you have installed them. Thats the main gripe with the L&Ls (which prollly aren't available for an FE btw), is that they don't clear the gap in the fender without beating and tweaking.

 

Which is why I'll be taking the dog house off and fitting everything back together.
Guess you just have to realize custom/new stuff ain't like original equipment and you should be ready to make it work.

 

Maddog's took a bit more trimming to inner fenders than L&L's(460 fenderwell). Neither require beating.

 

Well I'm not buying a set quite yet I'm redoing interior and exterior, I'll be doing stuff under the hood in the middle because I'm building a motor for a school project. I would rather have fender dumps and run it to the side of the frame and have a turn down pointing down and to the outside of the truck. So keep me updated if you run into any problems, Thanks.

 

regarding the L&L's, someone needs to do some googling.

 

L&L's own website states "requires a 3 inch body lift" in regards to the fenderwell exits (as noted above they don't make em for the FE).

Installing a 3 inch body lift just to clear a set of headers is a little drastic imo, most guys get by just fine with trimming the inner fenders a bit.

 

Hasteranger, No need for Google but you can if you want...I might have removed 2 inches tops from the lower edge of both trucks using the brands mentioned.

I have personal experience with both brands which I stated that the Mad Dogs(FE) required a bit more trimming than the 460 version of the L&L's.

Now, I tried using different engine perches(not 460) and had to resort to L&L's perches to lower and move the engine slightly towards the rear. This resolved all of my fitment issues other than the minor trimming of the inner fenders that I spoke of. I guarantee there is no body lift on my truck.

I can assure all of you I would never make a recommendation to anyone about anything that I don't have personal experience with. There are way to many folks here who know these trucks like the back of their hand for me inject my guesses to another persons thread about a problem or question.