Well I've got the patent manifold leak/click on my 5.4L. I had planned on just throwing on some shorties b/c I'm not after performance, just repairing the problem. However, LT's really don't cost much more than the shorties, plus I'm pretty sure that my convertors are OEM and thus have 113,000 miles on them.

So my questions are (keep in mind that repair is the primary factor):

Should I go with the LT's and new cats or will my OEM cats be alright?

If I should go with LT's and new cats, how do I do it (which cats, etc.) and still pass my NYS inspection (meaning a cannot have the CEL tripped for any reason, missing 02 sensors, inaccurate readings due to no cats, wrong cats, etc.)?

Thanks guys.

 

I know for a fact your OEM cats will not be able to handle the higher pressure and heat of the LTs. You wont be able to run the front ones anyways since the front cats are where the collectors of the LTs end. Magnaflow 94306 cats are whats provided in the dynatech longtube header kit. I would stay with those.

 

Yeah, I hadn't planned on trying to run LT's and my factory cats for those reasons. Thanks for the part number. Will those cats ensure that I don't get a CEL? Thanks.

I guess my main question is with 113,000 miles on the truck (and cats), and putting 6,000 miles on it each year, should I replace the cats and go with LT's or would I be alright just throwing on shorties and leaving my OEM cats alone? Again, my main motive is repair. I don't know what the typical life of OEM cats are and I just don't want to end in the situation where I throw shorties on now but end up having to replace the cats anyways in a couple years. But I also would like to avoid spending the extra money on LT's and new cats if I don't need to. Any input is appreciated, thanks.

 

Magnaflow cats are actually pretty cheap, like $65-$75 per cat. You might as well have them installed just to save some head aches and some money down the road.

 

Yeah they are actually a lot cheaper than I thought they would be, on Summit they are $87/cat.

If I plan on getting Pacesetter LT's would I have room to install the Magnaflow cats where my rear set of OEM ones are now and then have pieces of pipe fabbed-up to go from each collector to the cats? Thus using the back part of my OEM y-pipe? Thanks.

 

Well, if your not needing an extra 15 horsepower and 25lbs or torque, I would say the LTs wouldn't be very necessary, If you are strictly looking to repair without any gains, go with a set of shorties. Save yourself about $300 - $500.

 

I know I'm switching gears here and I apologize for that, but I'm kinda leaning towards the LT's and Magnaflows for the sake of having it done with/fixed for good (piece of mind), and the bonus of a little added performance. So with that said, would the set-up I mentioned above work without having to relocate the rear O2 sensors? Thanks guys.

 

Go all out. You have a perfect excuse for getting the LTs.

I can't wait for my tires to lose more tread so I can get bigger and better ones!

 

Well its not really the rear sensors you will need to worry about, but they will need to my mounted by your exhaust shop after the new cats. You will need downstream front O2 extensions. $500 - $700 on a good qulaity get of stainless steel headers, and $168 for a set of Magnaflow 94306 cats will do the job.

 

Thanks Darren. I figured that I could leave the rear sensors where they are as long as there was enough room for the Magnaflow between the LT collector and where they are mounted currently. The more I looked at the headers I thought of the O2 extensions as well. If they don't come with the headers where would be a good place to get them? I was able to find Pacesetter ceramic coated LT's on ebay for a little under $500 as well as the Magnaflows for a little more that $170. Again, thanks for all the help.

 

I'm not really too sure on that one, I would imagine that they would provide the extensions ( Pacesetter I mean ) but i'm not sure. Google it or ebay I would imagine.