Only thing I see shorties are better for is installation. You un-do the ex. manifolds and replace with shorties. Performance wise, sound etc, I've always been told long are better. I'm in the middle of installing long ones on my 5.4, so we'll see.
Forget the mileage aspect you drive a truck, forget it...I have had both kinds of headers and personally I found that LTs have a better powerband than shorts. Shorts had more of a peaky feel, less low end good top end. Lts flattened out the torque curve and felt much better. Lts are alot more work but they feel (and sound) much better than shorts. My preferences are Lts, stock logs, and shorts in that order. Again this is personal experience and yours may differ. Go LTs
__________________ '97 XLT: Flex e-fans, Superchip #1715, GOTTS intake, Flowmaster 50 Series, Euro fronts, LED tails, Pacesetter LT's w/ maggie high flows and maggie y-pipe, Belltech 2" drop shackles w/ axle shims.
Just did my long tube install, hi flow cats etc, and holy crap what a difference. I would guess no more than 20 hp, maybe like 15, but more than enough to feel thats for sure. The sound is incredible now, really woke up the muffler I already had. It kinda sounds like a Lightning with a aftermarket exhaust, minus the blower whine. If you're going to tear into this project, do it right once, believe me (ate up the whole weekend almost)!
First off thanx for the great info! I am most deffinatly going with longtubes when I finally get tired of the squeeling exhast leak and can afford them!... Now who makes a better set?... Pacesetter or OBX, or are there others out there besides the ebay cheapies and are they any good?
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99' F150 7700, just purchased, stock... for now
Im suprised this still comes up. Shorties only help the sound a little bit but not much performance. As said before long tubes have a broader torque curve and flow a whole lot better than the others. You get a better scavenging affect, easier flow, and hearing the individual runners while being on it makes it worth it. I wouldnt spend the money on shorties but thats my opinion.
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5.4 3v-4.56 LSD-JLT ram air-sct xcal2-long tube headers-Maggie high flow cats-Cherry bomb extreme exhaust-315/70R17 BFG A/T's-2.5" hell bent steel level-1.5" RL rear block-clarion 7" screen-6x8 polk audio's-10"mtx sub w/500 mono block amp-
Pacesetter and OBX are both good companies to buy from. I can tell you from experience pacesetter is good but after time they show their age. OBX is a much higher quality set and will last alot longer than any others. Buy the OBX if you can. It will probably be the last you buy.
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5.4 3v-4.56 LSD-JLT ram air-sct xcal2-long tube headers-Maggie high flow cats-Cherry bomb extreme exhaust-315/70R17 BFG A/T's-2.5" hell bent steel level-1.5" RL rear block-clarion 7" screen-6x8 polk audio's-10"mtx sub w/500 mono block amp-
I would stick with OBX, Dynatech's are nicer, but $600 nicer? That is above and beyond ,the hi flow cat version of the OBX. Now, I'm very skeptical of overseas made stuff, but for the money, OBX is nice quality. The fit and finish was nice. You'll love the sound, unless loud is annoying because they do make things a lot louder!!!
PS, I'd suggest anything exhaust to be stainless, unless you live down south, and as far as mileage, won't be able to tell because right now I can't keep my foot off the loud pedal!! We'll see, but any hp increase should help mileage......
Last edited by BLUE20004X4; 02-07-2012 at 11:20 AM.
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'97 XLT: Flex e-fans, Superchip #1715, GOTTS intake, Flowmaster 50 Series, Euro fronts, LED tails, Pacesetter LT's w/ maggie high flows and maggie y-pipe, Belltech 2" drop shackles w/ axle shims.
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