Hey guys My next move is the Ticking sound from my manifolds. I found a nice pair of headers from pace setter.. little cheaper then the gibson set ups and the JBA set ups.. just going to do a little budgeting. i will be painting these... and im getting the SPD y pipe as well..... To anyone that has this combo.. would you do it again? worth the time and money?

 

Which engine do you have?

The Y-pipe is a good modification for the 2V gas engines. As for headers, a lot of guys on this forum regret putting headers on their trucks. I would get them ceramic coated, inside and out, if I was going to install headers.

 

I am trying to figure out about an exhaust system for my truck also. Why are others regretting headers?
Hard to install? Performance issues?

Not trying to hijack this thread but thought the question would be helpful to the OP!

 

If i could only choose one mod for my 5.4, it would be the y pipe. made the biggest performance difference so far, love it. definitely install the y pipe on your truck, you wont be sorry

 

i have a 02 5.4.. i no the y pipe is almost a must have.... but are the headers worth it?.. and to the exhaust question.... if you look at your stock exhuast you will see baffels through out your exhaust... you will notice the y pipe is really restrictive. so the SPD y pipe is a good upgrade..


back to headers.. Is there no real gain from them? if not ill just throw on stock mainifolds again. but if its work it then ill buy the headers. i no my friend put a set on his Stock truck. nothing is done to the truck but the headers and there is no gain if i remember correctly. but i have a 3 inch muffler with a aftermarket highflow cat. i cut the reducer off the after the stock cat. My truck is also tuned with the SCT custom tunes from 5 star. and i have a drop in K&n air filter. other then that performance wise im stock.

 

The stock manifolds are restrictive and the stock y-pipe is restrictive. Fact. Once you get the OE y-pipe and manifolds off you will see what I mean. The power increase will not be earth shattering but it is an improvement. Long tube headers will give you the most power gains but I never saw them for the 5.4l SD.

Since you probably have broken studs already get rid of the stock manifolds and eliminate the broken studs in the future. Spend the extra money on a set of stainless Gibson, JBA or Ford racing headers. You can paint them with header paint if you wish. Ceramic coating is basically a waste. The two sets I have on my trucks are ceramic coated and they started rusting and flaking in short order. The ceramic coating from the factory is junk. The only way to get a quality ceramic coating is to send the headers out to a good ceramic coating company but that is expensive. Just go with the stainless. I found for the most part you get what you pay for with headers.