Yes, Hemibabe just posted something like this, but I did not want to jack her thread. So...
I will be buying the vararam, pacesetter LTs, and an electric cut out here in the next week and had a few questions.
1. I was told I should run no cats when I put in the LTs. What are the effects of this, can I pass inspection still, or should I go with the magna flo hi flow cats?
2. I saw somewhere about not closing the cutout at a certain rpm and above, what was that? And are there any limitations on the opening and closing?
3. Will also be replacing the stock y pipe either way, can the exhaust shop provide this or will I need to purchase one myself?
4. And finally, what are the advantages and disadvantages of welding the cutout in versus clamping it in, considering there is a possibility the motor could go out.
Thanks.
1. Without a way to make up lowend (gears/stall/cam etc.) I would not cutout the cats. No cats caused
MY TRUCK to drop its lowend by almost and raised ,my 0-60 time by a noticeable amount and I had gears and a TC installed. Topend was there but lowend was gone. Also if your inspection includes a sniffer test, you will fail, if it is just a visual and you gut the cats or if just a plug into the OBDII to check, as long as you do the nonfouler trick, you'll be fine be fine.
2. The raceland cuout, and the DMH cutout I had both suggested not trying to open or close it above 1500rpm. If you need to close it fast take your foot OFF the gas and let the rpms drop under the 1500rpm mark before closing it. You can and will burn out the motor that way. One of the issue with the raceland, is it will sometimes not open or close due to a lost signal or signal interferance. so just keep an eye out for the guys with the red and blue lights on their car while you have it open because you wont be able to close it right as you drive by them.
3. Pacestter has a good bolton kit kit for $150, that what I have on mine. Problem there is the cats are 2.5" while the collectors are 3", so you can open the cats up to a 3" in/out, splice the y pipe in and call it a day. Or go with the magnaflow High Flows and get a 3"in/out cat and get an adapter for the collectors. One thing you DO NOT want them to do is weld the exhaust to the collectors, you will kick yourself repeatedly if you go that route and decide to do more upgrades or return to stock.
4. I have mine welded in, Just do a few dry runs before you weld it in and after its in at the exhaust shop to make sure it works. Worst case senerio, you have to cut it out and replace it (which their customer service for me at least is top notch when you give them an issue with their part).
Finally a few extra notes since I have all three of those parts on my truck now.
- Get a 180* t-stat with the headers as a bandaide for any KR that might pop up due to a lean condition at WOT, if there is any KR the pcm cuts power to get rid of it which hurts performance, if there is to much KR you can damage the engine.
- The pacesetters have some quality control issues, every set is almost always different from the last so be prepared to modify them a little to fit right.
- Go with the OEM gaskets, $20 from the dealer. And pick up some stage 8's for the header bolts.
- The vararam has issues as well, my truck didnt have any room to rout the pipe like they show it. and the directions do not follow the order you should install it. as there are parts that should be put on first before others to make life and the install a breeze. It is worth it and makes for a fun ride, but my instal was a *****.
- I think I covered the raceland pretty well. Just be smart when using it. it bumps the powerband up in the rpm range a little higher with it open, lowend is better when its closed.
Anymore questions just ask
