Well I just installed a set of the pacesetter longtubes on my truck a little over 2 weeks ago, so far so good. Love the sound, I combined them with my own X-pipe and a pair of flowmaster 40 series mufflers, 2.5" piping, and did a rear side exit behind each tire. I did cut 2 of the cats off and re-used the larger ones as well as install a set of MIL eliminators on the rear sensors. Power wise I would say I lost a little low end, BUT if you get on it that quickly changes, as soon as the RPM's kick up the truck scoots! Acceleration is much, much smoother as well as the shift points. I would say I could have gained at least 20 Hp/20 Tq....easy.. Time consuming mod, but worth it! did have to extend all 4 sensor wires too. and GET A SET OF LOCKING HEADERS BOLTS is a MUST!!

 

Sounds like yours went easy - did you weld everything up? wish I seen this post earlier - having a hell of a time with these - Novice when it comes to exhaust systems . I have the pacesetters installed - locking header bolts , but the maggy high flows won't fit in between the intermediat pipe and collector. You must have been able to stretch it out some - on a 4x4 you don't have the room because of the transfer case . I ran one big cat behinde the Y for that reason and my truck is slower than it was with the stock set up..

 

Yeah I welded it all up, its easy to cut and re weld if I ever need to. I re-used the 2 long stock cats...and yes im sure a 2wd has lots more room

 

Thanks for the post - yea - the shops going to weld the 2.5 ID Maggy HF's into the 3" collectors -(straightening out my mess) Using my stock intermediate pipe - at least I wont need simulators (MIL eliminators) - Then the cat back maggy setup gets welded together .

Ther hitting me for $170..- Can't get me in till next week..

 

I am in the market for some new headers and would like to spend 300 or less on the headers. I have fond a set of shorties by flowtech on summit for my 97 4.6l for 285. They are similar in design to the Edelbrocks. They are just painted steel headers, so i was planning on wraping them to help keep in heat and make them last longer. Does anyone have a suggestion? Remember under 300 bucks please, some of us are not made of money

 

don't waste your money on shorties... they yield no hp/ft-lbs! do you just need to replace a stock manifold? if so, just buy another stock manifold and don't waste your money! if looking to upgrade for more power, save up for longtubes and gain ~35 hp and ~30ft-lbs!

 

Ive been looking for long tubes but i can only find Pacesetter, and with all the bad reviews i have read and seen on this forum im leaning away from them. If you know of longtubes that will fit my 97 4.6l please recommend some, or at least a place to look.

 

any longtubes from the 5.4 *will* fit, but will require some "fabrication" for one, the exhaust will definently need some reworking, and some parts may have to be bent in order to make the headers fit properly. what you really want is dynatech longtube headers. they are like $850, but are made of the highest grade stainless steel, T304. check out rpm outlet.com. they are listed under the heading of 2WD lightning 5.4, but will fit a 4x4 and a 4.6

 

got mine from the APW but they only have pacesetters on there i think. good price to 283.80 for long tubes for a 4.6L

 

How did your pacesetters look when you got them out of the box? If read reviews that pacesetter has poor quality control.

 

i also bought pacesetter long tubes and they look great and sound great.. so far no problems and you also cant beat the price easy gain of 30/30..they are worth it if you dont have $1,000 for top of the line ones...

 

They are only similar to the Edelbrocks only in that they are both shorty headers. The Edelbrocks are by far the best shorty design I've seen, anything that dumps the tubes right into the ball side of the ball and socket connector will not perform well. DO NOT wrap any steel header on a daily driver, the wrap will retain moisture and they will rust out very quickly.

 

if you dont have the money for long tubes dont buy any or your just wasting ur money...

 

What is the APW?

 

Do you have any suggestion for keeping the painted steel from rusting? I am not for sure how fast they will rust normally. I just don't want them to rust out in a year or two.