Hey Paul,
Man, I feel for you. That's a tough nut to crack. I knew the 4.7's were
tough. When I was installing the headers on my 5.9 (actually Tom Fox was
helping me), Mike Leach was trying to fabricate a set for the 4.7. I heard
a few choice words about clearances, something about only an 1/8" on one
side, so I know it's a big problem. Even on my 5.9 clearances were close
but tolerable. The best sound is the installation of the cat back system.
The headers basically deepen the sound slightly but not a lot. The Mopar
headers included a new Y-pipe, but even with that Tom had to do some slight
cutting to make everything fit exactly right with no stress anywhere in the
system. You are absolutely right about needing a welder, both to dismantle
the old ones and to install the new ones. Without welding you'll never get
a nice smooth job where you don't have to worry about leaks. Mine is welded
from the headers all the way back to the end of the cat back. It's all
T-304 stainless warranted forever. Gains on the headers were minimal. I
believe I got a few ponies on the top end. The reason: I need to put new
lungs in my heads so they can breathe...RT heads...soon!
Ron
00 PB SLT QC 4X2 5.9 46RE 3.92 LSD
For modifications see my DML Profile (URL follows)
http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/Kw9pV1EkFeOYY
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net]On Behalf Of Signman615@cs.com
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2001 5:23 AM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: DML: 4.7 Borla Headers; Big Disappointment
Got my headers installed yesterday and the exhaust shop had a tough time
getting them to work. The place where the header meets the Y-pipe was way
off
and the only way they could make it work was to cut the Y-pipe and add a 4"
piece to spread the Y apart more. They called me before doing this and I saw
exactly what he was talking about. I was too far in to back out so told him
to go ahead. Apparently the driver's side is easy to get to but the
passenger's side is really tight, he had a time getting that one in. My
exhaust guy has been doing this sort of thing for 20 years and knows his
stuff. He has two drag cars he races and works on himself so I trust him
completely. He was not impressed with the design or quality of the Borla's
and said the factory manifold looked like it would flow better, but like I
said I was in to far to turn back now and I was looking forward to having
the
truck sound a lot louder. I already new my HP gains were going to be minimal
but wanted the sound more than anything and any HP gains would just be a
plus. Anyway after cutting the Y-pipe and 4 hours of aggravation they are
installed and aren't leaking. Unfortunately the truck sounds exactly the
same. No difference in sound at all. I couldn't believe it. Now the truck
sounds exactly the same as before, probably has the same HP as before, and
has a cut Y-pipe that is no longer under warranty. Live and learn. This is
not an upgrade I would recommend to anyone with the 4.7. My exhaust man said
he was highly impressed with the factory manifolds. I should have listened
to
Kenne Bell when they told me they were only able to squeeze out another
7-10Hp at the rear wheels with their $700 set of headers and didn't
recommend
doing the upgrade unless I was racing and just needed that extra little HP.
But I was hoping for a better, louder, more aggressive sound more than
anything and got nothing. Sorry this is so long just thought I might save
you
all a little aggravation, time, and most importantly money. Spend it
somewhere else.
Paul
00 4x4 CC 4.7 Kenne Bell Supercharged
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:00:06 EDT