Ok, so I finally got the tires back on and the jackstands out and went for a test drive. The EBAY headers are amazing!!!!! Talk about waking this sucka up! HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!! Now keep in mind, the headers by themselves may not do much, but in conjunction with my other mods, this bitch is now UNLEASHED!!! I will now provide you with a time-line of events of how it all came to this point.

I bought the truck in June of 07, days later I experienced the heat sheild rattle. Thats when I discovered the POS bottle neck y-pipe! I said to myself "self, this bitch has to go" So i googled and found the infamous E-bay Y-pipe. Bought it and installed it. Did NOT notice any performance nor fuel economy gain. However, I felt better about not having that POS factory Y.

Next I was craving a little sound, so there I was, back on E-bay studying cat-back systems. It seems as if weeks went by..... then one day I won an ebay item. DEAL OF THE CENTURY!!!!!! JBA EVOL.... the stainless version...... for only $195.00!!!!!!!!! To be honest with you, I was expecting it to be the aluminized version just because it was so cheap. But it arrived brand new and in shiny pretty STAINLESS!!!!!!!!! So I installed it, it looks awesome! and sounds nice! could have been a little louder.... but nice tone. I had to buy a new spare tire (after melting a hole in the original) and build a heat sheild for it. I was trying to keep the tailpipe away from the shock boot, and it was just too close to the spare tire, but now it is all happy!

AND THATS WHEN I SAW IT!!!!! or more so DIDNT SEE IT!!!! NO REAR O2 SENSOR!!!!!!!! Could it be? WOW!!! seems to be that a truck of this weight is exempt from certain emission laws therefore not requiring the use of a rear oxygen sensor!!! Oh yes that great big ugly cat was just begging to be altered........ So I did. First, I cut open the top, removed it's entrials, and sewed it back together. DONT EVER DO THAT!!!!!! My poor truck sounded like a blown weed-eater on nitrous!!!! So out it came and in went a nice straight peice of 3" aluminized! Much better, but it was still creating a sound that..... well.......... just shouldnt have been made by a truck! So I priced a new cat..... $700 no way jose! I had a pair of 30" glass packs kickin around so I stuck one in place of the previously mentioned pipe. MUCH MUCH BETTER. Then my old man told me that sometimes he used to put glass packs in backwards and they'd change the sound a little and act more like a resonator. So I said to myself "self, before we weld that thing in there, we should flip it around and see what it sounds like". So i did. BINGO!!!!!! SWEET MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!!!! The perfect tone at idle, the perfect volume at cruise, and the perfect growl at WOT, just absolutely what I was looking for!

Now after all of this, I still had not noticed any gains nor losses, other than the sound. So I assumed I needed to clear up any intake issues to help along the free-flowing exhaust it now possesed. The stock set-up on these trucks is very efficient, I feel the filter itself is the hold-up along with the zoo-dad mod. I found a great deal on an AEM dryflow CAI. I would recommend staying away from oiled filters on MAS vehicles. I put a skin over the Dryflow to keep moisture out of it, and the zoo-dad mod went smoothly. The heat sheild that came with the CAI kit didn't appear to do a great job of isolating engine heat, so I insulated it to keep that compartment heat from migrating into the intake. Sound stayed the same, milage improved some, and the "seat-o-the-pants" dyno showed some gain as well. However, at this point I had spent well over $500 and had gained very little. $500 buys alot of fuel, but at least the truck sounds GREAT!

Fast forward almost a year:
I decided to try out some new KYB shocks. While installing the left front I notice something scary.......... a broken manifold stud! And another! Oh S&%T!!!!!!

Further inspection revealed two broken studs on the drivers side as well. So I got back on EBAY and ordered up some BAD *** EBAY HEADERS!!!!! I also rounded up some studs, nuts, and bolts of various lengths. The project took place over a six day period, totalling somewhere around 10-12 hours. All of the broken studs came out with vise grips, everything went back together with antisneeze Frame got notched (twice) and the y-pipe got squeezed together a bit. Simply replacing the studs and putting manifolds back on couldnt have taken more than 4 hours, but these damn headers were difficult, tighten this nut, tighten that bolt, loosen that stud, take that bolt out.....
Wrapped the brake lines with header insulation and put the shocks back on last night and went for a spin............


YEEEEEEEE HAAAAAWWWWWWWW

This sucker is un-corked and really screaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really wish I would have dyno'ed the before mod setup........ This is amazing and I can only wonder what a custom tune could do! Maybe for christmas....

Again, not one mod by itself could ever have these results. It is simply a matched system, It is only as strong as its weakest component.

I'd like to thank Art for pioneering the headers and an awesome write-up.

ROCK ON DUDES!!!!!!!

 

awsome!
what year truck have you been working on?

i thought if you reversed a glass pack it would cause more back pressure.

thanx for usefull info.

 

Sounds great. Ive heard alot about this mill being just about perfect from the factory, but wondered through each post disclaiming power gains by this or that, what certain combos would achieve. The headers sound like a great starting point(although I wonder who makes the best set requiring Less or no, cutting). The cat mod sounds great, but my location requires restriction (thinking after market higher flow , ? duals). Like you say though its not any one mod that would ultimately bring great rewards, but a fully anticipated modification series does.
Have you heard any talk of NOSing (He He). I noticed in the service manual diag. that the 10 seems to have 2bolt mains? Heard anything about after market splayed 4 bolt replacements, Raised compression (milling or piston swap), whether cast or forged cranks, Higher (rpm) power band cams, port matching benefits, Full aluminum upper lower intake(verses somewhat brittle composite lower), for this volumetrically efficient power house of technology.
Whats next, In your plans? I'm still working on suspension maintenance(or lack of Issues)my self. I myself haven,t created a (picture) gallery, but one showcasing some of your mods would certainly rock? Plz more info(stock build specs and such) on your rig as well . Enjoy

 

Jax...I believe the truck he has been working on is in his signature......

 

what year truck have you been working on?

2003

Whats next, In your plans?

when funds allow, or I get a new credit card
Dynatrac


created a (picture) gallery, but one showcasing some of your mods would certainly rock?

yah I should work on putting one up, got lots of SAS pics too

Plz more info(stock build specs and such) on your rig as well

a scan guage is the only other add on I got

 

i thought if you reversed a glass pack it would cause more back pressure.

Yes, I beleive you are correct, but its there more for sound reasons........ bouncing waves around and canceling a few out?????????? I dunno???? But it works! Maybe a sound clip is in order?????

 

Oh snap! That Dynatrac is in my links now. Sounds like the way to go.

 

the dynatrac upgrade would be the way to go if u had an extra $1900 to spend but yeah it really would be nice

 

Glad to hear it worked out so well for you

I've now got the eBay headers, the y-pipe, and now, I added something else...

Don't kill me, I got a CAI kit that I have a write-up coming for any day now...

The combination of exhaust improvements AND the CAI kit (with a much nicer flowing intake tube) has really woken up this V10 a lot.

I timed it yesterday when the ambient temps were down in the 70's again, like the last time I tested 0-60 (with only the headers), and it seems, I got a full SECOND off the 0-60 time. I still have to time it a few more times, but 0-60 time seems to have improved around 10%. That's a lot.

Again, wish I had dynoed it before all the mods.

I'll be releasing info about my CAI installation in the next few days... stay tuned

 

what do you think your 0 to 60 is?

 

It's down below 10 seconds now ... I've timed it over and over and over again, around 75 degrees ambient, on one section of road near me (that is not exactly totally flat) that a lot of people used to have a 1/4 mile marked out on.

It was originally 10.7 seconds, or there abouts. I have 3.73's, and a cap/topper on it, and 285/75R16's (32.8 inches vs. 31.6 inches stock).

It's down to around 9.7.

The intake woke up the exhaust mods it seems.

But the jury's still out on it, I have to really test it on a long trip when I'm going into Upstate NY this Labor day.

 

krewat, did that second that was shaved off ur 0-60 time improve because of the ebay headers only or the enbay y pipe, ebay headers and CAI?

 

I didn't notice that big of a difference with the headers, and after I put the Y-pipe in, the ambient temp was in the 90's, not the 70's, and yet, had the same 0-60 time (around 10.7 secs). Which is an improvement right there because of the temp difference.

Now, with the CAI and the y-pipe and the headers, and the ambient came down to around 75 late that one day, I got a 9.7 sec 0-60.

Then, back up around 90 degrees again, I got a 10.3 0-60.

Definitely an improvement, but because I didn't do it scientifically, I can't say really how much it improved things.

But I got an adrenaline rush, that's for sure... it's definitely noticeable as a seat-of-the-pants thing...

 

Wow, just re-read what I posted, that's not very clear.

With headers, ambient around 75 degrees, 0-60 was 10.7 secs (approximately, I'm doing it with a stopwatch).

With headers, y-pipe, ambient around 90 degrees, 0-60 was 10.7 secs.

With headers, y-pipe, and CAI, ambient around 75 degrees, 0-60 was 9.7 secs.

I think it's a hand-in-hand thing, as in intake and exhaust need to be opened up to notice any difference.

 

Any more impressions on the upgrade?