I have a 1998 light duty F-250 super cab, with a 5.4 Liter. Pacesetter headers have very attractive prices- $170 for blk painted and $270 for ceramic coated. I have an Araid intake(I would recommend this to anyone looking for a intake system- it performs excellent and looks a lot better then the K&N) and a Gibson exhaust. Does anyone have these headers on their truck? If so, how have they performed and lasted. Is the performance gain worth the cost?

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1998 F-250 2wd super cab w/ 5.4 Liter
black
gibson exhuast
Araid intake

 

I usually am on the Lightning forum, but saw this and needed to reply. A couple of other people have put Pacesetters on their Lightings. I ordered a set from JC whitney ( numbers are posted on the Lightning Topics)
They are presently on sale for 15% off if you use the info I supplied. Do a search and see if you can find it. If not, go to the Lightning forum and look me up. Good luck

 

Tibideaux

Did you purchase the Pacesetters?

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My Ride: 1998 F150 4x4 Lariat Supercab Flareside 5.4L in Oxford White/gold, ORP, Tow Package, 3.55 Gears.

Modifications: K&N FIPK, Stepshield door sill protectors, Performance Accesories 3" body lift, Lift Lips, Gabriel Gas Ryder LT VST Shocks and Daystar front anti-sway bar polyurethane bushings.

Photos at: http://www.communicomgroup.com/jmtruck

 

no i have not. i'm not going to either. i read some of the conversations about JBA headers and the results from most were that the headers did not make much of a difference. since it's a time consuming job and the gain seems minimal i've choose not to install the pacesetter headers. i did replace the exhuast manifold gaskets(2 per side @ $24.00/pc).

 

Just ordered the Pacesetter ceramic coated for mine, $279 minus 15% is a great price. Even if I don't get that much performance gain, weight and under hood temp reduction is always a plus in my book. I do think it will help with throttle response and low end grunt though.

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Boss™

Ordered June 29th, 2000; pick-up date Nov 28th, 2000: 2001 F-150 Lariat, Oxford White/Silver Supercab 4x4, Styleside, 5.4L, 7700# payload, Class III Tow, 3.73LS, Skids, Leather Captains, 4W disc ABS, shift-on-fly, keyless, HD everything
Planned Mods:
"Protected by the Owner and his 2 friends, Smith & Wesson" sticker, Westin Chromed Stainless Nerf Bars, ARE LS II bed cover, Bedrug™, Gibson Swept Side Cat Back, K&N filter w/airbox mods, Pacesetter ceramic coated headers, Superchip, 3" body lift with at least 33's, alarm/pager/auto start system, stereo system

[This message has been edited by Boss96Hog (edited 11-23-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Boss96Hog (edited 11-23-2000).]

 

I have the black ($150) pacesetters from JCWhitney. They didn't fit my stock exhaust so I had to get the exhaust customized. JCWhitney paid the customization in full and quickly, as their catalog says: 'replaces stock manifolds'. Good customer service. I did have some problems with exhaust leaks after that, though. I'm not even sure if they're tight now. How can I check that?

 

bjoern

You said that the headers didn't fit. What model truck do you own? Is that an isolated problem or are those headers giving some trouble at installation time?

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My Ride: 1998 F150 4x4 Lariat Supercab Flareside 5.4L in Oxford White/gold, ORP, Tow Package, 3.55 Gears.

Modifications: K&N FIPK, Stepshield door sill protectors, Performance Accesories 3" body lift, Lift Lips, Gabriel Gas Ryder LT VST Shocks, Daystar front anti-sway bar polyurethane bushings and 35x12.5R16.5LT BFG All Terrain KO's on 16.5x9.75 American Eagle 589's.

Photos at: http://www.communicomgroup.com/jmtruck

 

I have a 1988 302 5.0l V8 F-150. The stock manifolds were cracked and the pacesetters were the cheapest alternative short of a junk yard. The details of the installation were like this (if you're interested):
They installed on the engine block just fine, but when I tried to get the stock exhausts to fit the headers, they seemed too short (well, if the exhausts or the headers were too short is a matter of how you look at it :-)). In addition to being just a little too short, the distance seemed to be a little off, too. What I mean is that the H-pipe was a little to narrow (or too wide, I don't remember) for both pipes to fit with the headers. Even pulling/pushing on the exhausts with all my might had only the effect that the muffler guy I finally went to needed three persons to get them off again :-) He took the stock pipes off and custom fitted two new pipes. Had I known JCWhitney would pay so easily, I had him make a dual out of it right away :-)
I guess if you have a dual exhaust system anyway, that problem shouldn't occur, as there is no H-pipe and thus the pipes are much more flexible to position. I also had to retighten/retorque the bolts after a few miles.
Ah, yes and some of the bolts were so close to the tubes, that you couldn't fit a socket on them, i.e. you couldn't torque them properly. All I did was feeling the amount of torque on the ones I could fit a socket with a torque wrench on and tighten them all by hand. Seemed good enough for me <shrug>. But how can I check whether that produced a tight seal?
Sorry for the long post, that's my story :-)

[This message has been edited by bjoern (edited 11-23-2000).]

 

bjoern

Thank you for the details.

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My Ride: 1998 F150 4x4 Lariat Supercab Flareside 5.4L in Oxford White/gold, ORP, Tow Package, 3.55 Gears.

Modifications: K&N FIPK, Stepshield door sill protectors, Performance Accesories 3" body lift, Lift Lips, Gabriel Gas Ryder LT VST Shocks, Daystar front anti-sway bar polyurethane bushings and 35x12.5R16.5LT BFG All Terrain KO's on 16.5x9.75 American Eagle 589's.

Photos at: http://www.communicomgroup.com/jmtruck

 

Hey thanks!
I'll keep an eye on those bolts and if they keep coming off, I'll get a set of those bolts!

 

Hey thanks!
I'll keep an eye on those bolts and if they keep coming off, I'll get a set of those locking bolts!

 

Steeda, www.steeda.com sells locking header bolts.