If you have to win a drag race
headers are a must.

For daily driving
they generally aren't worth the hassle
for the 2-4% gain when catalytic converter and mufflers are behind them.



from Steve Dulcich's good comparison:

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/t...ust/index.html

 

i suck at lotto tickets lol....i guess part of the problem is i dont have any money to get them since i put all of it in the truck

i just put some tips on my exhaust and will record what it sounds like now and post it and you can hear what a summit exhaust sound like from the headers to the tips except for the magnaflow hi per cat that summit does not make

 

Gibson seems to have good reviews.................

 

2% here (headers) and 2% there (high flow cat) and 4% there (high flow muffler) and 5% there (TB), etc... all start to add up. If you want a mod that does all that at once, the only thing is going to be nitrous or a supercharger. So to me, it is worth the hassle.

 

Those numbers are from carburated motors, I don't think its a fair comparison to todays FI models.

 

I know most people are not a fan of the Pacesetter/Summit Headers. However, I have had three 2nd gen Rams. I have used these headers on each truck with absolutely no problems at all. One set I put on my first truck in 98 with around 5000 miles on it. Drove that truck to 140,000 miles and never had any issues with them. Granted they are not coated so they will rust, but for the money how can you go wrong?

 

Love my new Edelbrock Ceramic coated headers. I used to have a set of Pacesetter and they burnt out completely. According to Summit, they believed the problem was caused by header wrap and now void any warranty if any wrap is used. I also had issues getting the pacesetters to mount as the header bolt holes did not line up quit right to the heads.

 

Not all headers are created equal. Granted I'm new to the Ram community, but I'm assuming we are talking shorties here? Most headers I have seen are short tubes, which should bolt up to the stock exhaust setup. There are three different styles of headers though. Short tubes(shorties), Mid lengths, and Long tubes(LT's). The advantage of a good set of LTs is that you get exhaust scavenge. without getting too involved with it, basically, if each tube is equal length, basically, not only are you freeing up backpressure, but you are also sucking out exhaust gasses from the heads. With short tubes, you only get the advantage of less backpressure.

 

that is true but you forgot that you can get mid-length (though usually are custom made) and shortie headers in equal length tubes. haven't you ever seen the shorties that look like a bundle of snakes? i've been thinking about the shorties but those will go on last if at al possible first is changing the muffler, then changing the cat then changing the manifolds out. i've seen plenty of jobs where the truck made more power from a bette cat than swapping the headers in, of course the headers will help.

i have been wondering what kind of paint is on the summit headers. what if i stripped the paint off and sprayed on some of that high temp stuff for BBQ's? think it would last longer?

 

weblinks

http://www.spdexhaust.com/headers.html

http://www.stans-headers.com/

http://www.ttiexhaust.com/

http://www.revsearch.com/dynamometer/headers.html

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...D=#Post3008294

this website has thumbnail pictures of various headers

http://www.dakota-durango.com/parts.php?page=headers