Hey guys, bought a 2000 f 150, it had the notorious ticking sound when I bought it, my mechanic later mentioned it was an exhaust leak, the exhaust manifold had a crack where the left bolt screwed onto the block, It was saftied with this problem the garage told me to bring it in and they could possibly fix it or I'd call MTO on their ***.
Then I got to thinking, scrap the whole manifold and get some headers, was planning on getting dual exhaust so why not throw the headers in there aswell, but then I see on here people saying don't bother etc etc, so what should I do, engine is all stock, Im going to be putting money into it with magnaflow exhaust, k&n intake, possibly headers, performance chip etc, thanks guys , cheers

 

Well, it really is up to you and how much $$$ you want to put into it & use your truck for.

the cheapest fix probably is going to be stock replacement.

If you haven't yet read through the Exhaust guide, do so, a wealth of info there https://www.f150online.com/forums/ex...ust-guide.html

obviously the stock does work....but...
there is room for improvement? you bet.

the most expensive is going with long tube headers, quad cats (2 each side), and you choice of muffler and tail pipe for finial exit strategies.

Many suggest weeding down to 1 cat each side with 1 high flow cat for each side...depending on your states laws if that will be allowed?

the other thing is to find a exhaust shop that will work with you and your plans....many times (so it seems) the local pros can offer better deals...unless you have your heart set on doing the wrenching yourself, just don't plan on this getting back together super fast, another words, plan on different driving options for a while. Not that it can't get done on a weekend...just that Murphy lurks everywhere.

 

Thanks for your advice, I see people putting shorty headers on instead of replacing the stock manifold, when you run headers do you absolutely need quad cats etc etc, I was going to run headers to a dual magnaflow exhaust with stock cats, I could get high flow cats just wondering with yall think, I live up north in Canada iIm not worried about laws etc Thanks again cheers

 

Shorties will not do much for you, on a performance level....unless you constantly at redline, RPM wise. They are better than stock, in that, exhaust combine together slightly further down stream. Some are not any cheaper than LT's

Most are a direct replacement from stock, meaning that the rest of the exhaust system should bolt right back up.

Long tubes Or LT's offer the most gain in performance, prolly really noticeable if you pull a trailer. The down side is that they mandate a complete exhaust overhaul which gets expensive quick. most gain in MPGs too but don't expect much improvement without a tuner.

 

^ exactly

 

Well thank you both, I will work my *** off pay some taxes and invest my money properly, thanks again cheers

 

I was reading about the JBA shorty headers, I could get a pair for around 600, compared to 1200 for a different long tube set possibly more, I only need these to replace a stock cracked manifold, I could still imagine some gains, what do you guys think

 

do you want performance or sound? thats basically what you need to ask yourself at this point.