Difference in different LT headers?

[RedSRT4Me]

pretty sure any exhaust shop is capable of doing that

They absolutely would be.

Point is you can either buy it all at once and install or have it installed.

Other options would be entry level fabrication depending on the schedules of pipe obtained

Or pay someone to do it all

The one thing I don't like on those knock off headers is that 02 placement. If they are placed at a 90 degree intersection of the collector they will collect too much moisture and fail often. Something closer to a 45 degree angle would be ideal.

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

Not all exhaust shops I would actually consider capable of making a ypipe. if they crimp bend the pipe they will add restrictions to your new free flowing exhaust. Also if they havent done at least a few on these RAMs they may run into clearance issues. May look good while up on the lift then once you get it on the road or off road things start rubbing and banging. There certainly are shops capable just do your homework 1st if you plan to have one made at a shop. There is a ton of R&D done for these set ups to fit as well as they do and that is part of the reason some of these premium products have a premium price tag.

 

[Pull Ya]

In my experience when working with muffler shops that do custom work, I think you're going to find that maybe 1 in 100 will have the capability of doing mandrel bends. The equipment required to do mandrel bends cost thousands and thousands of dollars more than a standard pipe bender. It's almost as easy to buy the pre bent mandrel pipes and then have them pieced together.
Jay

 

[Lyle Longboat]

F*ckin’ Jimmy in his HF MIG SMDH @ his quality score.

All kidding aside, other than eBay China copy headers any known brand of long tubes will last you a long time.

China copy headers, anyone ever run these? I should ask Scotty Kilmer how these run on his Toyota. Wait, he doesn’t run headers.

 

[Lyle Longboat]

In my experience when working with muffler shops that do custom work, I think you're going to find that maybe 1 in 100 will have the capability of doing mandrel bends. The equipment required to do mandrel bends cost thousands and thousands of dollars more than a standard pipe bender. It's almost as easy to buy the pre bent mandrel pipes and then have them pieced together.
Jay

Lyell’s exhaust out of Burlington, Ontario is where my full custom exhaust is ordered from. All mandrel bend 2.5 from headers to tips duals with x pipe. Jus waiting for the call when it ready for pick up. Around $500 for the setup.

 

[Pull Ya]

Your lucky--I've looked at a lot of shops down here and they just laugh and say they don't have enough call for mandrel bent stuff to justify the extra cost of the special equipment.
Jay

 

[Lyle Longboat]

Yeah from what I’ve heard and researched, not a lot of shops do mandrel bends.
Most use the pipe crusher style.

 

[RedSRT4Me]

Lyell’s exhaust out of Burlington, Ontario is where my full custom exhaust is ordered from. All mandrel bend 2.5 from headers to tips duals with x pipe. Jus waiting for the call when it ready for pick up. Around $500 for the setup.

Just curious why not 3" stepped to 2.5"??

 

[crackerjack1957]

[QUOTE
500 hp is the demarcation point for the 2.5 vs 3 exhaust. I'll do the calculations again:

Facts:
1. For each horsepower, you need 2.2 CFM from your exhaust setup.
2. Exhaust gas flows at about 115 CFM per square inch.

Calculation:
500 hp * 2.2 CFM / hp = flow requirement of 1100 CFM.
Since you are likely using dual exhaust, divide by 2: 1100 CFM / 2 = 550 CFM per exhaust pipe.

We need 550 CFM / 115 CFM / psi square inches of tube area = 4.8 square inches.

The area of a pipe is pi * r squared. We have 3.1 * 1.25 squared = 4.9 square inches.

So 500 hp uses all the available area of a 2.5" dual exhaust, with a big assumption: that the mufflers can flow 550 CFM.

For completeness, a 3" exhaust is good to 800 hp.
][/QUOTE]

 

[Tim Garceau]

Lets not get math too involved here Pythagorean. Where did you pull that quote from, not entirely accurate.

 

[Lyle Longboat]

I’m just a weekend cruiser in need of changing out my bolts (tickin). I figured I’ll go long tube and stick with 2.5. Not sure about all the math as I sucked at math in grade school. lol.

I have dual 26” magnaflow glass packs in place of muffler.

Just weekend driving for me. No racing or trying to set 0-60 time. Plus I don’t have the extra cash at the moment (family/Mrs) Main reasons.

I most definitely would go 3” though if I could.

 

[Ronan]

Brands to stay away from on these trucks are BBK, ******, and Flowtech. All have had numerous quality control issues including cracked welds, leaks, and warped flanges. I avoid the ebay chinese knockoff headers for the same reasons...Ive seen many crack at the welds. On a personal level, I also have a hard time buying from a manufacturer who is OK with taking someone else's hard work, sending it to China to be copied, and then selling it for less.

For budget longtubes, JBA's are hard to beat. Their hardware isnt the best quality, but Ive been very happy with the headers and Y-pipe they offer. Upgrade to a set of Mopar or Remflex gaskets, add an extra o2 extension, and swap their U bolt clamps for band clamps and you are good to go.

Having said that, I will always run ARH headers on my own trucks. Their quality, fit, completeness of their kits, and durability have been perfect on my last 5 trucks that I ran ARH on. They are made in the USA with 304 stainless, come with good gaskets, bolts, clamps, and all 4 o2 extensions. They also offer a specific Y-pipe for the 5/6sp and the 8sp transmissions to ensure the best fit. Have nothing but good things to say about ARH.

Now take his with a grain of salt , I almost agree with all of this with the exception of the Chinese knock offs. Growing up , a set of headers would run 1-200$. I don’t believe the r&d has changed enough to constitute charging upwards of 1500$ for a set of headers that should “for all intents and purposes “ only cost around 200$. I’ve been running the Chinese knockoffs with absolutely zero issues for about three years and they cost what they should cost for a set of headers. That’s just my .02
Otherwise I’d go with Matt’s recommendation 10/10 times.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tim Garceau]

The quality of fit and finish is less robust in copies as well as lower quality stainless & smaller gage piping used.

I've ran a set on a different car, they were so thin you could hear the hot exhaust gases flowing under load when they weren't warmed up yet. Other than that and a ding to get them in, they made power even in a mild boosted application and didn't leak/crack. If my BBKs ever have an issue, I certainly will be going with a budget copy instead of dishing out $1K+.

 

[Ronan]

[QUOTE
500 hp is the demarcation point for the 2.5 vs 3 exhaust. I'll do the calculations again:

Facts:
1. For each horsepower, you need 2.2 CFM from your exhaust setup.
2. Exhaust gas flows at about 115 CFM per square inch.

Calculation:
500 hp * 2.2 CFM / hp = flow requirement of 1100 CFM.
Since you are likely using dual exhaust, divide by 2: 1100 CFM / 2 = 550 CFM per exhaust pipe.

We need 550 CFM / 115 CFM / psi square inches of tube area = 4.8 square inches.

The area of a pipe is pi * r squared. We have 3.1 * 1.25 squared = 4.9 square inches.

So 500 hp uses all the available area of a 2.5" dual exhaust, with a big assumption: that the mufflers can flow 550 CFM.

For completeness, a 3" exhaust is good to 800 hp.
]

[/QUOTE]

No mention of Displacement? This plays a very large roll in the diameter of the pipe used as well. Especially when it comes the the header primaries. The 5.7 doesn’t require more than 1 3/4”(unless it force fed), while the 6.4 is better with 1 7/8 , then you have the 6.2 with fi that is better suited with 2” primaries. Also depending on cam selection and which heads are used.
None of the cars I know of running over 800 hp have gone any larger then 3” and some have not even strayed from the factory 2.75”. From the factory the red eye and demon come with 2.75” pipe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[crackerjack1957]

Lets not get math too involved here Pythagorean. Where did you pull that quote from, not entirely accurate.

Kinda old:
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/74532-3-quot-vs-2-5-quot-Exhaust/page2?p=750794#post750794


Newer:
https://m.roadkillcustoms.com/determine-proper-exhaust-tubing-size/

 

[craigsez]

I cant speak as to the auto world re headers BUT i can have an imput re motorcycle headers...

Just like car/truck we all want the best so forget looks...

Find performance #'s,materials used,design flow and developement of said brand....

Yrs ago i did my research on bike exhaust and made my decision...Turns out that their performance/materials/build quality were all top notch BUT they looked damn good to and to add another BUT i paid heavly for the exhausts on those two bikes....

I took the long way around i spoze in saying that you get what you pay for but ya gotta do research to make your own choice and to be happy with it...

Sorry for the ramble..lol

 

[craigsez]

Headers have gotten a little expensive over the years---my first set of Hookers for a 57 Chevy were about $150---but that was in the early 60's and that was a lot of money back then. LOL
Jay

I remember paying $125 for a set of rusted wolf headers for my 83 gpz750 kawi..Then i paid $1250(plus shipping from cali to novascotia) usd and im in canada for used nassert beet for my 06 zx10 kawi....Then as the same brand became less and less available for my 08 zx10 kawi i shelled out $2000 usd plus a lil shipping.....
Yeap stuff keeps costin more to have that extra WOW when you hit the throttle..

 

[Wild one]

[QUOTE
500 hp is the demarcation point for the 2.5 vs 3 exhaust. I'll do the calculations again:

Facts:
1. For each horsepower, you need 2.2 CFM from your exhaust setup.
2. Exhaust gas flows at about 115 CFM per square inch.

Calculation:
500 hp * 2.2 CFM / hp = flow requirement of 1100 CFM.
Since you are likely using dual exhaust, divide by 2: 1100 CFM / 2 = 550 CFM per exhaust pipe.

We need 550 CFM / 115 CFM / psi square inches of tube area = 4.8 square inches.

The area of a pipe is pi * r squared. We have 3.1 * 1.25 squared = 4.9 square inches.

So 500 hp uses all the available area of a 2.5" dual exhaust, with a big assumption: that the mufflers can flow 550 CFM.

For completeness, a 3" exhaust is good to 800 hp.
]

[/QUOTE]

Just to screw with your head,my 1 7/8" headers and 3" pipes are wrapped right back to the mufflers,plus my headers are double wrapped,then I re-used the 2.5" Magnaflow after muffler pipes.I use the mufflers as a poor mans expansion chamberThat throws a monkey wrench into your calculations doesn't it,lets see you figure that one now,lol

 

[crackerjack1957]

[/QUOTE]
Just to screw with your head,my 1 7/8" headers and 3" pipes are wrapped right back to the mufflers,plus my headers are double wrapped,then I re-used the 2.5" Magnaflow after muffler pipes.I use the mufflers as a poor mans expansion chamberThat throws a monkey wrench into your calculations doesn't it,lets see you figure that one now,lol[/QUOTE]
Not going too.....lol

 

[crackerjack1957]

Just to screw with your head,my 1 7/8" headers and 3" pipes are wrapped right back to the mufflers,plus my headers are double wrapped,then I re-used the 2.5" Magnaflow after muffler pipes.I use the mufflers as a poor mans expansion chamberThat throws a monkey wrench into your calculations doesn't it,lets see you figure that one now,lol[/QUOTE]
Bet he's not bottle fed, dynoed & cammed like you.... lol