Ford v10 headers
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Ford v10 headers
New to this forum but ya'll on here have been very helpful over the years with my issues and concerns on Ford trucks, so I decided to join. I currently have a 2003 f250 CCSB FX4 v10 auto. I recently bought this to replace my 2002 f250 SCLB 2wd v10.
So I just took the plunge and bought some Doug Thorley long tube headers to go with my five star tune.... I had recently purchased the SDP ypipe and SCTX4 tuner and tune for life combo from 5 star tuning. The ypipe and tune gave me a noticeable boost in off the line power but gave me that god awful v10 exhaust flutter. I was about to weld the old super restrictive ypipe back in to get rid of that terrible noise when I noticed a broke exhaust manifold bolt, so I went ahead and spent the $750.00 on the ceramic coated DT headers and another $550.00 to have them installed. Long story short, if you dont have broken exhaust manifold studs, leave the stock system in place imo. The headers completely solved the flutter issue and are actually quieter at around town speeds than the stock exhaust. They also give that buttery smooth v10 noise at idle to 2k rpm. After that I can't even tell I have headers on however, there is a noticeable drone at highway speeds and a very noticeable drop in mid-range power. I do pull 3500 to 8k lbs 90% of the time this truck is on the road so I'm not sure how it sounds/feels empty. I just flashed a new tune that accommodates the headers so I'll update this post if that helped with the midrange power loss. Having said all that, between the ypipe cost that were a bust and the headers I now have over $1500.00 into the exhaust with no real performance gains. The headers look super sexy behind the fender wells and do have that smooth low rpm v10 sound but they're definitely not worth almost $1500.00 after install. Hope this helps some of you guys out that are on the fence about headers on a 2v v10.
So I just took the plunge and bought some Doug Thorley long tube headers to go with my five star tune.... I had recently purchased the SDP ypipe and SCTX4 tuner and tune for life combo from 5 star tuning. The ypipe and tune gave me a noticeable boost in off the line power but gave me that god awful v10 exhaust flutter. I was about to weld the old super restrictive ypipe back in to get rid of that terrible noise when I noticed a broke exhaust manifold bolt, so I went ahead and spent the $750.00 on the ceramic coated DT headers and another $550.00 to have them installed. Long story short, if you dont have broken exhaust manifold studs, leave the stock system in place imo. The headers completely solved the flutter issue and are actually quieter at around town speeds than the stock exhaust. They also give that buttery smooth v10 noise at idle to 2k rpm. After that I can't even tell I have headers on however, there is a noticeable drone at highway speeds and a very noticeable drop in mid-range power. I do pull 3500 to 8k lbs 90% of the time this truck is on the road so I'm not sure how it sounds/feels empty. I just flashed a new tune that accommodates the headers so I'll update this post if that helped with the midrange power loss. Having said all that, between the ypipe cost that were a bust and the headers I now have over $1500.00 into the exhaust with no real performance gains. The headers look super sexy behind the fender wells and do have that smooth low rpm v10 sound but they're definitely not worth almost $1500.00 after install. Hope this helps some of you guys out that are on the fence about headers on a 2v v10.
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Joined: Apr 2015
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Hey man I have the same headers, same year truck 6.8. Since you have spent that much already, I'd recommend the bbk 65mm throttle body and a intake.
The power for the long tubes is over 40mph, but it actually really picks up over 60 if you step on it. Any shorty headers would give you more off the line power, the long tubes is at higher speeds and if you really get on it you will feel it.
The sound isn't what you were expecting though huh? I had the spd y and flowmaster 50 on it before the headers and it was loud as all get out, sounded like a wild gorilla running down the street. I was kinda disappointed that the headers made it almost too quite. Oh well lol
The power for the long tubes is over 40mph, but it actually really picks up over 60 if you step on it. Any shorty headers would give you more off the line power, the long tubes is at higher speeds and if you really get on it you will feel it.
The sound isn't what you were expecting though huh? I had the spd y and flowmaster 50 on it before the headers and it was loud as all get out, sounded like a wild gorilla running down the street. I was kinda disappointed that the headers made it almost too quite. Oh well lol
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From: Media PA
I have the same 2V V-10 in my '05 EXcursion to which I added a set of the Banks stainless headers that include the Y pipe. I also run 5Stars custom tunes which were written with the headers in mind. Upon install I noticed a slightly quieter exhaust note (with the balance of the system still all stock) but felt a nice little performance bump across the entire RPM range which became much more noticeable while towing the 11K+ camper. If I had to start all over again I would definitely buy these headers again.
I had zero drone with the headers and stock exhaust and still have no drone with the factory muffler replaced by an Aeroturbine 3030XL muffler, which sounds great.
I had zero drone with the headers and stock exhaust and still have no drone with the factory muffler replaced by an Aeroturbine 3030XL muffler, which sounds great.
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Hey guys,
thanks for the input.
Honestly,
I had no idea how it would sound but I did expect them to be louder than the SDP ypipe, not quieter. So I pulled about 6k lbs today up a few 6% grades (no loads heavy enough to put the hammer down yet so I can't comment on WOT performance but during hard acceleration it feels a bit quicker than stock), still missing the midrange power even after the header tune... I'm thinking that maybe the old stock cat and muffler are slowing down the exhaust flow??? It also requires more throttle input to downshift, and my MPGs are lower. The truck still absolutely gets the job done but here is definitely a drop in midrange pulling power and mileage.Thoughts?
Also if I do swing for a high flow cat and muffler I dont want stupid loud. This is a work truck that I have to live with all day every day. How loud is that aero turbine compared to stock? Not sure I wanna swing for a throttle body and CAI just yet. Feel like I'd need cams or a blower to get any serious gains outta those mods? Thanks again for the input.
thanks for the input.
Honestly,
I had no idea how it would sound but I did expect them to be louder than the SDP ypipe, not quieter. So I pulled about 6k lbs today up a few 6% grades (no loads heavy enough to put the hammer down yet so I can't comment on WOT performance but during hard acceleration it feels a bit quicker than stock), still missing the midrange power even after the header tune... I'm thinking that maybe the old stock cat and muffler are slowing down the exhaust flow??? It also requires more throttle input to downshift, and my MPGs are lower. The truck still absolutely gets the job done but here is definitely a drop in midrange pulling power and mileage.Thoughts?
Also if I do swing for a high flow cat and muffler I dont want stupid loud. This is a work truck that I have to live with all day every day. How loud is that aero turbine compared to stock? Not sure I wanna swing for a throttle body and CAI just yet. Feel like I'd need cams or a blower to get any serious gains outta those mods? Thanks again for the input.
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 12,041
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From: Media PA
Hey guys,
thanks for the input.
Honestly,
I had no idea how it would sound but I did expect them to be louder than the SDP ypipe, not quieter. So I pulled about 6k lbs today up a few 6% grades (no loads heavy enough to put the hammer down yet so I can't comment on WOT performance but during hard acceleration it feels a bit quicker than stock), still missing the midrange power even after the header tune... I'm thinking that maybe the old stock cat and muffler are slowing down the exhaust flow??? It also requires more throttle input to downshift, and my MPGs are lower. The truck still absolutely gets the job done but here is definitely a drop in midrange pulling power and mileage.Thoughts?
Also if I do swing for a high flow cat and muffler I dont want stupid loud. This is a work truck that I have to live with all day every day. How loud is that aero turbine compared to stock? Not sure I wanna swing for a throttle body and CAI just yet. Feel like I'd need cams or a blower to get any serious gains outta those mods? Thanks again for the input.
thanks for the input.
Honestly,
I had no idea how it would sound but I did expect them to be louder than the SDP ypipe, not quieter. So I pulled about 6k lbs today up a few 6% grades (no loads heavy enough to put the hammer down yet so I can't comment on WOT performance but during hard acceleration it feels a bit quicker than stock), still missing the midrange power even after the header tune... I'm thinking that maybe the old stock cat and muffler are slowing down the exhaust flow??? It also requires more throttle input to downshift, and my MPGs are lower. The truck still absolutely gets the job done but here is definitely a drop in midrange pulling power and mileage.Thoughts?
Also if I do swing for a high flow cat and muffler I dont want stupid loud. This is a work truck that I have to live with all day every day. How loud is that aero turbine compared to stock? Not sure I wanna swing for a throttle body and CAI just yet. Feel like I'd need cams or a blower to get any serious gains outta those mods? Thanks again for the input.
The headers are a bit quieter due to the primary tunes having so much more volume for the same amount of exhaust gas to fill, at least that's my understanding.
The custom tunes, I tow with the 89 Octane Performance tune, make some serious adjustments to the trans shift strategy, that's where the increased throttle opening to force a downshift comes in. I find that the tune works well for me as the 6.8 still makes enough torque to get my work done at the lower RPMs before that downshift most times, but it's right under my right foot if I do need it.
You haven't mentioned what size tire's or gears your truck has, the V-10 loves to rev and makes it best power up high, so it really loves a deeper gear. The factory optional 4.30 gear (with stock 31/32" tire's) works very well with these motors. Changing my EXs gears from the factory 3.73s to a set of 4.88 s totally transformed it into a different truck, worlds better towing! Now with my 35" tire's and those deep gears it has an effective 4.39 ratio and handles our 11K+ lb TT very well all over the Eastern states.
I'm not one who needs to be the first to the top of the next hill when towing, so I'd rather let a little speed bleed off on a climb if it means that I can hold onto OD all the way and get the better mileage from that. I have towed our old 9500lb TH 15K miles and the current big TT for over 23K miles nearly everywhere East of the Mississippi and have never (since doing the gears early on) needed to go to WOT while towing, its a very capable rig.
This is my sound clip that compares the factory muffler to the Aeroturbine 3030XL, both are with the Banks headers, factory cat and stock pipes.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,053
Likes: 21
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Less restriction in the exhaust will help, but what gears are in your rear axle? Gears are the way to improve the feel of power, especially when towing.
Also, some have noted on here that the stock cat on these trucks is actually better that aftermarket high flow, but I have no personal experience to back this up. The muffler is another story, there are definitely improvements to be made there. I have a Cherry Bomb Vortex on my V8 and it is not too loud and I did not get any drone from it. For a while, Cherry Bomb was list the flow reports of their mufflers on their website. I picked the best flow with the least noise.
One final note... how many miles are on the truck and have the oxygen sensors and spark plugs been changed? O2 sensors wear out giving bad readings to the computer causing less than ideal air fuel calculations in the computer. As spark plugs wear and the gap increases which increases the time for spark causing late detonation. I believe either of these could be explanations for the sluggishness you are feeling.
Also, some have noted on here that the stock cat on these trucks is actually better that aftermarket high flow, but I have no personal experience to back this up. The muffler is another story, there are definitely improvements to be made there. I have a Cherry Bomb Vortex on my V8 and it is not too loud and I did not get any drone from it. For a while, Cherry Bomb was list the flow reports of their mufflers on their website. I picked the best flow with the least noise.
One final note... how many miles are on the truck and have the oxygen sensors and spark plugs been changed? O2 sensors wear out giving bad readings to the computer causing less than ideal air fuel calculations in the computer. As spark plugs wear and the gap increases which increases the time for spark causing late detonation. I believe either of these could be explanations for the sluggishness you are feeling.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,812
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From: Thousand Oaks, CA
Everything else is OEM stock, no tunes.
Starting the engine seems faster, the idle is smoother, low end acceleration is a bit better, overall exhaust sound level hasn't changed and there is no exhaust flutter.
I haven't noticed any improvement in mpg, but didn't really expect any.
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Less restriction in the exhaust will help, but what gears are in your rear axle? Gears are the way to improve the feel of power, especially when towing.
Also, some have noted on here that the stock cat on these trucks is actually better that aftermarket high flow, but I have no personal experience to back this up. The muffler is another story, there are definitely improvements to be made there. I have a Cherry Bomb Vortex on my V8 and it is not too loud and I did not get any drone from it. For a while, Cherry Bomb was list the flow reports of their mufflers on their website. I picked the best flow with the least noise.
One final note... how many miles are on the truck and have the oxygen sensors and spark plugs been changed? O2 sensors wear out giving bad readings to the computer causing less than ideal air fuel calculations in the computer. As spark plugs wear and the gap increases which increases the time for spark causing late detonation. I believe either of these could be explanations for the sluggishness you are feeling.
Also, some have noted on here that the stock cat on these trucks is actually better that aftermarket high flow, but I have no personal experience to back this up. The muffler is another story, there are definitely improvements to be made there. I have a Cherry Bomb Vortex on my V8 and it is not too loud and I did not get any drone from it. For a while, Cherry Bomb was list the flow reports of their mufflers on their website. I picked the best flow with the least noise.
One final note... how many miles are on the truck and have the oxygen sensors and spark plugs been changed? O2 sensors wear out giving bad readings to the computer causing less than ideal air fuel calculations in the computer. As spark plugs wear and the gap increases which increases the time for spark causing late detonation. I believe either of these could be explanations for the sluggishness you are feeling.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,053
Likes: 21
From: Pittsburgh, PA
I definitely understand the expense. If you did want to change, I would consider a finding a junked truck with 4:30 axles in it, freshen up whatever they need and swap them in. I believe an axle swap is cheaper than a gear change, but there is some risk with using used parts.
You make an excellent point. Perhaps if could be back pressure related, but I am no expert on engine tuning. One other thing that comes to mind is cleaning the MAF to make sure it is also getting accurate readings.
Have a dyno run done may be helpful too. See what you are actually making on the tunes. It may allow the tunes to be tweaked for your truck.
You make an excellent point. Perhaps if could be back pressure related, but I am no expert on engine tuning. One other thing that comes to mind is cleaning the MAF to make sure it is also getting accurate readings.
Have a dyno run done may be helpful too. See what you are actually making on the tunes. It may allow the tunes to be tweaked for your truck.
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Headers
New to this forum but ya'll on here have been very helpful over the years with my issues and concerns on Ford trucks, so I decided to join. I currently have a 2003 f250 CCSB FX4 v10 auto. I recently bought this to replace my 2002 f250 SCLB 2wd v10.
So I just took the plunge and bought some Doug Thorley long tube headers to go with my five star tune.... I had recently purchased the SDP ypipe and SCTX4 tuner and tune for life combo from 5 star tuning. The ypipe and tune gave me a noticeable boost in off the line power but gave me that god awful v10 exhaust flutter. I was about to weld the old super restrictive ypipe back in to get rid of that terrible noise when I noticed a broke exhaust manifold bolt, so I went ahead and spent the $750.00 on the ceramic coated DT headers and another $550.00 to have them installed. Long story short, if you dont have broken exhaust manifold studs, leave the stock system in place imo. The headers completely solved the flutter issue and are actually quieter at around town speeds than the stock exhaust. They also give that buttery smooth v10 noise at idle to 2k rpm. After that I can't even tell I have headers on however, there is a noticeable drone at highway speeds and a very noticeable drop in mid-range power. I do pull 3500 to 8k lbs 90% of the time this truck is on the road so I'm not sure how it sounds/feels empty. I just flashed a new tune that accommodates the headers so I'll update this post if that helped with the midrange power loss. Having said all that, between the ypipe cost that were a bust and the headers I now have over $1500.00 into the exhaust with no real performance gains. The headers look super sexy behind the fender wells and do have that smooth low rpm v10 sound but they're definitely not worth almost $1500.00 after install. Hope this helps some of you guys out that are on the fence about headers on a 2v v10.
So I just took the plunge and bought some Doug Thorley long tube headers to go with my five star tune.... I had recently purchased the SDP ypipe and SCTX4 tuner and tune for life combo from 5 star tuning. The ypipe and tune gave me a noticeable boost in off the line power but gave me that god awful v10 exhaust flutter. I was about to weld the old super restrictive ypipe back in to get rid of that terrible noise when I noticed a broke exhaust manifold bolt, so I went ahead and spent the $750.00 on the ceramic coated DT headers and another $550.00 to have them installed. Long story short, if you dont have broken exhaust manifold studs, leave the stock system in place imo. The headers completely solved the flutter issue and are actually quieter at around town speeds than the stock exhaust. They also give that buttery smooth v10 noise at idle to 2k rpm. After that I can't even tell I have headers on however, there is a noticeable drone at highway speeds and a very noticeable drop in mid-range power. I do pull 3500 to 8k lbs 90% of the time this truck is on the road so I'm not sure how it sounds/feels empty. I just flashed a new tune that accommodates the headers so I'll update this post if that helped with the midrange power loss. Having said all that, between the ypipe cost that were a bust and the headers I now have over $1500.00 into the exhaust with no real performance gains. The headers look super sexy behind the fender wells and do have that smooth low rpm v10 sound but they're definitely not worth almost $1500.00 after install. Hope this helps some of you guys out that are on the fence about headers on a 2v v10.
I took my MAF sensor out and sprayed it down with about half a can of maf cleaner. Pulled about 5k today... Ran like a champ. On hills that my old v10 and this new one prior to the headers, would drop down a gear, it never dropped out of overdrive. My throttle response and shift points are much better. The truck actually performed how I'd expected to after a header install. I'm replacing the o2 sensors and doing new plugs tomorrow. I'll update if that helps any as well.
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I installed the SDP Y-pipe on our 2002 V10 because the OEM Y connection just looked awful for proper flow.
Everything else is OEM stock, no tunes.
Starting the engine seems faster, the idle is smoother, low end acceleration is a bit better, overall exhaust sound level hasn't changed and there is no exhaust flutter.
I haven't noticed any improvement in mpg, but didn't really expect any.
Everything else is OEM stock, no tunes.
Starting the engine seems faster, the idle is smoother, low end acceleration is a bit better, overall exhaust sound level hasn't changed and there is no exhaust flutter.
I haven't noticed any improvement in mpg, but didn't really expect any.
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[QUOTE=WE3ZS;18202532]
The headers are a bit quieter due to the primary tunes having so much more volume for the same amount of exhaust gas to fill, at least that's my understanding.
The custom tunes, I tow with the 89 Octane Performance tune, make some serious adjustments to the trans shift strategy, that's where the increased throttle opening to force a downshift comes in. I find that the tune works well for me as the 6.8 still makes enough torque to get my work done at the lower RPMs before that downshift most times, but it's right under my right foot if I do need it.
You haven't mentioned what size tire's or gears your truck has, the V-10 loves to rev and makes it best power up high, so it really loves a deeper gear. The factory optional 4.30 gear (with stock 31/32" tire's) works very well with these motors. Changing my EXs gears from the factory 3.73s to a set of 4.88 s totally transformed it into a different truck, worlds better towing! Now with my 35" tire's and those deep gears it has an effective 4.39 ratio and handles our 11K+ lb TT very well all over the Eastern states.
I'm not one who needs to be the first to the top of the next hill when towing, so I'd rather let a little speed bleed off on a climb if it means that I can hold onto OD all the way and get the better mileage from that. I have towed our old 9500lb TH 15K miles and the current big TT for over 23K miles nearly everywhere East of the Mississippi and have never (since doing the gears early on) needed to go to WOT while towing, its a very capable rig.
This is my sound clip that compares the factory muffler to the Aeroturbine 3030XL, both are with the Banks headers, factory cat and stock pipes.
So with 4:30 gears effectively, what's your rpm at 75? Thanks for the exhaust clip... sounds about perfect
The headers are a bit quieter due to the primary tunes having so much more volume for the same amount of exhaust gas to fill, at least that's my understanding.
The custom tunes, I tow with the 89 Octane Performance tune, make some serious adjustments to the trans shift strategy, that's where the increased throttle opening to force a downshift comes in. I find that the tune works well for me as the 6.8 still makes enough torque to get my work done at the lower RPMs before that downshift most times, but it's right under my right foot if I do need it.
You haven't mentioned what size tire's or gears your truck has, the V-10 loves to rev and makes it best power up high, so it really loves a deeper gear. The factory optional 4.30 gear (with stock 31/32" tire's) works very well with these motors. Changing my EXs gears from the factory 3.73s to a set of 4.88 s totally transformed it into a different truck, worlds better towing! Now with my 35" tire's and those deep gears it has an effective 4.39 ratio and handles our 11K+ lb TT very well all over the Eastern states.
I'm not one who needs to be the first to the top of the next hill when towing, so I'd rather let a little speed bleed off on a climb if it means that I can hold onto OD all the way and get the better mileage from that. I have towed our old 9500lb TH 15K miles and the current big TT for over 23K miles nearly everywhere East of the Mississippi and have never (since doing the gears early on) needed to go to WOT while towing, its a very capable rig.
This is my sound clip that compares the factory muffler to the Aeroturbine 3030XL, both are with the Banks headers, factory cat and stock pipes.
So with 4:30 gears effectively, what's your rpm at 75? Thanks for the exhaust clip... sounds about perfect
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 368
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From: Ventura, Ca
Update:
I took my MAF sensor out and sprayed it down with about half a can of maf cleaner. Pulled about 5k today... Ran like a champ. On hills that my old v10 and this new one prior to the headers, would drop down a gear, it never dropped out of overdrive. My throttle response and shift points are much better. The truck actually performed how I'd expected to after a header install. I'm replacing the o2 sensors and doing new plugs tomorrow. I'll update if that helps any as well.
I took my MAF sensor out and sprayed it down with about half a can of maf cleaner. Pulled about 5k today... Ran like a champ. On hills that my old v10 and this new one prior to the headers, would drop down a gear, it never dropped out of overdrive. My throttle response and shift points are much better. The truck actually performed how I'd expected to after a header install. I'm replacing the o2 sensors and doing new plugs tomorrow. I'll update if that helps any as well.
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Spark plug torque
I did! This is my 2nd 2v and I do the vast majority of my own maintenance. I think the vast majority of the plug spitting issues come from not torquing the plugs to specs. Torqued my old truck plugs to 168 inch/lbs and drove 60k miles no issues. Even checked spec on them twice during that time. They all maintained 168 inch/lbs min.