on the big pain in the azz scale of 1 to 10

what would you rate installing long tube headers?

lets say spark plug change is about a 5

 

My opinion is that if you are going to cut the old exhaust off and not worrying about saving it, then the install is not too bad. I did mine in my garage on jack stands. You have to make sure the truck is high enough and make sure you cut the heat shield after the old exhaust is gone. Line up the new headers, mark the shield, remove headers and cut.

You can't compare it to plug changing because each is totally different. Exhaust will take longer.

 

i will be useing a lift and all the tools imaginable

i just put on magna flo mid and tails

after that i put a magnum blower on

and jim jr told me if wanted to run my 6lb pulley i better put headers on

and i really like the 6lber

 

Removing the stock exhaust is a pain though. If you don't cut it, you have to get the drivers side of the truck very high in the air to get the intermediate pipe out. You have to jack up the front end and put it on jackstands. Then remove the front wheels and fenderwells, to gain access to the manifold studs & nuts. Some of the studs will come out with the nuts when loosened. The remaining studs have to be removed from the heads using a 5 mm 6 point socket. Make sure you have two of these on hand, as they are cheap and you may crack one. Disconnecting the front O2 sensors is a pain as they are difficult to reach where they are attached above the exhaust just behind the engine. The starter bolts are no fun, and the passenger side manifold outlet bolts will fight you also.
Installation of Kook's LT's is easy as they will slip in without having to even raise the vehicle. A couple of the lower bolts are hard to reach, but a modified angled (_/)10 mm wrench makes the task much simpler.
I've done the Kook's three times on Lightnings now, and think it is easy. Maybe a 7 on your scale. I don't know about other brands of LT's though.

Good luck if you decide to go for it.

Lightning Bob

 

i ran a 6lber daily for a good long while before i put the LTs on

 

do you have a Magnum powers blower though?

 

I'm sure there's a power difference with the LT's but I've never been able to feel it "seat of the pants". According to KB there is little to be gained also. And before you ask, I am running a KB and 16 psi of boost. Have a set of LT's in the shop with the 2-cat mid-pipes. You better like noise, cause I don't and that's why they're not on the truck. That and I cannot tell a power difference at all.

As far as install difficulty, I've installed Dynatechs and LFP's. The Dynatechs were a very easy install and fit great. The LFP's were much harder to fit on the passenger side, the EGR tube is welded wrong on the drivers header and will require a lot of time to get the tube bent correctly so you can hook it up. Also they give you allen bolts for the header bolts which are virtually impossible to tighten up on a couple of them.

Jody

 

Be sure to disconnect your battery before your start.

JDM long tubes and complete exhaust is pretty easy to install. Took me about 7 hours from start to finish on jack stands in my garage.

My sawall made the job much easier though.