i'm glad i don't live in california. what do they have against headers?

 

They don't allow changing the location of the CAT. So, even if you have OEM rated, smog approved CATs- they won't pass due to change in location.

I have been researching this all day and talked to many about this issue. What I found was that most of the headers out there are cheap. They are mostly junk and, Pacesetters happens to fall into that category along with quite a few others on the market.

The good headers (even shorties) that are TUNED for your vehicle will give the same performance and better than non-tuned headers and will be both CARB and SMOG legal in ALL 50 states. HP gains are minimum of 20HP which is the same as LT pacesetters without a CAT so, you can get the same performance out of shorties if they are of good quality. They cost more but, in the end, it's worth it in my opinion.

The LTs are good for racing and that's about it. They provide a quick get up and go but, for everyday driving in the mid to low RPM range they don't work as well as a tuned header system that is designed for every day driving and towing. So, if your going to pull or tow or your looking around for a great MPG header that sounds great- look at JBAs. A quieter header- go with Gibson. Both are a pain to install so, it's about equal there except, lots of reviewers have had leaks with Gibson headers. I didn't see anyone complain about leaks with JBAs nor anyone complaining about having to grind down anything to get them to fit.

So, I am going to spend the money and go with a tuned set of ceramic coated headers that are CARB and SMOG legal.

 

In California they are so strict with emissions that they don't want you messing with anything on your vehicle. The rule of thumb is just leave it stock and they can't ding you. If you mess with it, you could have followed every rule in the book and if you get some butt head inspector, they will just fail you on the visual and you'll be stuck arguing till you're blue in the face. The DMV is no better either. You have to remember Southern California has had bad air way before any other part of the country. We have had way too many people here for way too long. The population of Southern California is the size of some small countries. You guys just have no idea how crowded it really is.

 

i have an idea. my dad said that back in 82 when he peaked a hill going to san diego he could see the smog on a clear sunny day and it looked like a rain cloud.

 

^ Yep, that's about right. San Diego actually has better air than the L.A. & O.C. basin. We have the mountains holding the bad air in so it gets really bad. For example, in NC and most of the country you probably look up and see clear blue sky. We just see ugly hazy blue. The beautiful post cards of LA are wither photo chopped or are taken on really clear days. We have some clear days on occasion. Actually not all of California has smog checks only from Ventura down to San Diego and Northern California. Santa Barbara and many parts of Central California don't have smog checks because there are very few people living there, it's mostly farm land.

 

Today we have lots and lots of smoke from the Los Angeles Forest that is up in smoke. Makes for a beautiful sunset....LOL I was down in SD last month or so. Clean clean clean compared to up here in the San Gabriel Valley. Never had sinus issues in Boston. Now out here, it's almost 24/7.