Are adding headers to an 03 F150 with a 4.6 worth the time and headache and money as far as a performance gain? If so which brand?

Rusty

 

Ive heard good things about headers, i have yet to do them on mine. you may want to find a guy named fastf150 (paul) he has a 4.6 with headers....
and there arent alot of brands to choose from on the 4.6 platform
-Patrick

 

i have 2002 supercrew and im putting on headers next week i let you know how it goes and any hp diference btw i have 5.4 though and ther shorties

 

Personally, from experience... I wouldn't waste your time with shorties. I can understand if you have emission testing, but if you are going for the maximum horsepower stick with longtubes.

 

I have no experience with headers on these trucks. In general though, I wouldn't think the overall horsepower gained compared to dollar invested would really be worth it on these trucks. Plus, unless you get a nice stainless steel set, they will rust even with the Jet hot coatings a lot of companies offer. If the merge collector is not welded on the header already and is a slip on type... They tend to leak. You will really need to have the truck custom tuned with a wideband to make sure the air/fuel ratio is correct. From experience you will also need a good tune to see any real benefits from headers. Get longtubes if you do get headers, don't waste your time with shorties. My opinion is that yeah longtubes will give you a little jump in rwhp (I am not sure on these trucks what the jump is though... I would guess somewhere around maybe 20 at most) These trucks weigh a lot, so I doubt the little gain in hp would make a noticeable seat of the pants difference in acceleration.

 

I belive that I will stick to the stock ones and spend the money else where. Thanks for the replys and helpful info.

Rusty

 

im getting shorties to help with mid to high range hp that my truck could use

 

I'm happy with the shorties I put on my truck.

 

I apologize its "fasterf150" as seen here
https://www.f150online.com/forums/members/72697-faster150.html
-Patrick

 

hey padron did you notice added hp with shorties

 

Is there anyway you could dyno it before and after on the same dyno? I would be interested to see what the gains are. My experience is only from sports cars. I have never put headers on a Ford truck before. Are you going to leave your cats on it? How many cats does an 02' have? I could see there being a little gain if you get rid of the cats, or get an aftermarket high flow converter. Hopefully you can run it on the dyno before and after to see what the actual numbers gain is. Every vehicle responds a little different to modifications. Let us know how it works out!

 

I have a set of Pacesetter long tubes, X pipe and DIDO, on the way I'm at 261rwhp and 325TQ before the E-fans so I should get close to 300 RWHP after the headers and exhaust

 

Is there any way you could dyno after the E-fans, but before the headers, and then again after you install the headers? I am curious what the gains with longtubes are on these trucks. Hope the install goes pretty easy!

 

Post before and after dyno runs. My money says that long tubes and X will get you maybe 15hp at the wheels, and the fans will get you maybe 5.

 

Well.... It did feel more responsive and seemed to have more power than prior to putting them on, it also made my Magnaflow catback louder which was a plus.

Hard to say, I also added U.D pulleys and E-fans and a tuner within a week of installing the headers.

Also, I put them on a 7700lb Expedition, that was pretty slow to begin with.

With all the goodies, I am very happy with the Expy's performance, I also average 15-16 MPG in the city with 33" tires.


Really hard to say how much added umph the shortie headers did on their own, but with everything else it's a Very noticeable improvement.