Made the decision to go with headers to replace the cracked exhaust manifold. Looking at JBA short tubes or pace setter long tubes Which is better? Just use the truck to pull boat to lake. 5.4 F-150 FX4

 

Have you looked at Gibson SS Shorties?

 

well it depends on how you look at it. shorties arent much different than manifolds they bolt right up in factory location and require no mods but at the same time i dont think they really flow any better than stock and no gains. Long tubes will give you alot more lower to mid range power and torque but pretty well requires a complete exhaust system which will run you probably close to 1200 installed. As for brand the pacesetters are fairly cheap but they are also cheaply made and will last you only a couple years or you can go with say kooks which are stainless and wont rust but cost close to 800 a pair.

 

So, the short tube headers are not worth the cost. I should just replace the cracked manifold with another stock one? And if I go with the long tube headers I will get the improved performance but I will have to change the whole exhaust.
I have the factory single exhaust right now but was looking into going with the dual exhaust with the X pipe later.

 

For what you want to accomplish, I would go with a good pair of shorty headers or just replace the cracked manifold. If it were me, I'd probably go with quality stainless shorty headers like JBA if I were going to be keeping the truck a while. They won't crack like the manifolds will and require no other parts be changed. If you were to go with long tube headers, you will need to replace the converters and y-pipe and may even need to have custom tunes and a tuner to get everything to work like it should without setting a MIL. And longtubes will definately cost much more $ in the end.

 

A good set of shorty headers will flow better than stock manifolds. They will scavenge much better than the stock manifolds which typically have unequal tube lengths. ANY properly constructed headers, short or long tube, will benefit from a properly tuned system which might mean new cats, mufflers and a crossover for true duals or a Y-pipe for a single exhaust.

One added benefit of shorty headers is that you don't have to do the whole nine yards at once. You can just install them in place of the manifolds and hook up the stock exhaust system. You can then replace the rest of the exhaust when you have more time or money or both.

 

Go long if you are looking to showmanship/pride, and shorty's for functionality/truck.

 

Hello ... I was wondering if you ever changed out your exhaust manifold or not? I have a similar R/H cracked exhaust manifold problem on a 2005 Expedition, and I posted a question in that forum but not much in replies. I believe the F-150 and Expedition are very similar as far as access.

Here's the link from my other post ...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ld-access.html

Hopefully someone out there has some feedback. I did buy a factory shop manual off Ebay but has not arrived yet ...

Thanks!

Dave

 

Again, I would recommend shorty headers. Simply bolt in place of stock manifolds and go. Ford Racing and JBA both make quality headers. Which ever way you go it's a PITA to install but well worth it over just a manifold replacement.

 

gibson shorties ss

 

I did go ahead and replace the exhaust manifolds with a pair of shorty headers. Well let's say I'm changing them still. Everything was going alright until I started on the pass. side. There was a broken stud in the head and it has been giving me hell. By jacking up the drivers side of the engine I was able to reach the broken stud. I should have strarted the stud removal process witha left handed drill bit,but I did'nt. Started by drilling a small regular drill bit into stud and you guessed it, IT Broke!!! After dulling several bits the opening is a liittle bigger but still jacked up. Now I'm going to have to pull engine so I can access this problem. Think I will just pay local grage to finish it. So, if now studs are broke it is a diffcult to say the least but can be done. If there is a broken stud start with a left handed drill bit.

 

The studs are hardened Grade 8 or equivalant in metric standards. You need to go slow on the rpm with a sharp drill bit and lubrication to keep the drill from getting dull. When drilling out hardened steel speed is your worst nightmare. You'll dull a drill and break it fast. Once you get the broken stud out, you'll need to chase the threads with the correct tap so the new will thread in. Now you know what I meant by PITA.