Hey everyone! I am new to this forum and new to Ford Trucks. My dad just gave me an 86 F150 w/5.0 302 efi. This is now my project for me to learn and impress my dad.

The first mod I want to do is the exhaust system. I was just informed that the clean air act will not allow me to leagally do a true dual. Headers are a waste of money and a fake cat back system is all I can do. Will someone please let me know what the best leagal mod I can do that will increase HP and performance and of course sound mean.

Thank you in advance and I hope to be an active part of this community.

Rob

 

Ive been told for sound go with a Flowmaster 40 muffler for performance go with a Magnaflow muffler. I went with a Flowmaster on my 05 to get the sound, I'm still undecided what I'm putting on my 86

 

unless your in california, or another area ruled by smog *****, then you can replace your cats with highflow units.

true duals are legal, put a cat on each pipe. if you want it loud then run it with straight pipe after the cat, if its to loud or sounds crappy then try differnt mufflers on it.

on my 86 f150 [351 v8] i ran true duals off a set of headman long tube headers, no cats, through a set of thrush glasspacks, then bent both pipes out infront of the right rear tire.

to me headers arnt a waste of money, they helped my gas mileage and made the truck sound meaner. the waste of money would be flowmasters, why spend a hundred bucks on a single flowmaster when a 20 dollar glasspack sounds better.

 

They info I got before this post was bogus. I took it up to the exhaust place and he recommended true dual and showed me the inspection criteria to ensure me it was leagal. I am getting true dual with 2 high flow cats and mufflers. I don't know what mufflers he will put on but they are somewhere around $80.00 each. He is doing the work tomorrow so I will find out what mufflers and how they work and sound.

The reason this is my first mod is because the truck is bogging down real bad at take-off and then again every time I change gears. I think the cat is clogged cuz there is a lot of what sounds like exhaust bang under or directly behind the cab. Any other suggestions would be great.

Oh yea, Thanks for the replys they are very helpful. I will post to let you know how everything works tomorrow.

 

Get some good headers to put on it will help your gas mileage and you will like the extra Horsepower.

 

I was thinking about headers too. Can't afford them right now but what would you recommend long or short and what brand. There are so many to choose from and the price difference is drastic too. Before when I said that headers are a waste of money, I was quoting the guy that told me that true duals were illeagal.

 

If you can afford it get ones that are Jet hot coated Heddman headers has a set called the Elite series. Here where you need to research to see what you can afford you will be surprised how reasonable they can be just remember the lower gauge number the thicker the flange which is what you need. Long headers can give you more HP,TQ, and mileage but you maybe able to fit shorty headers only.

BTW Check Summit racing or Jegs

 

your engine compartment shouldn't be all that crowded, a good set of long tubes is always a good bet. just remember, this is a big investment in the truck, so make sure you get what you want later. if you want lots of bling under the hood, go with coated from the get-go. shorty headers are nice, but you really feel the performance changes with the long tubes. if you do have to deal with smog *****, make sure and get headers with the sensors already in place, that way you don't void the waranty right off by welding on a bung for a sensor

 

Looks like only shortys will fit with a standard tranny.

 

it might be worth your while to check the 5.0 forum. they said that the longtube headers for the 300-6 wouldn't fit with 4WD and a man-tran, but they will, you'd be surprised sometimes what will fit if you check around some

 

Thank you guys for the input. I put true dauls with high flow cats and flow master 40's. It sounds great and the performance difference is increadible. I am now sure that the original cat was clogged and the motor was choking out. I will let this thread die and be in touch as I do more with this project.


Thanks again!!!!!