I have a 01 f150 with 130,000 miles. The exhaust system is needing work from rusting conditions. The county I live in has eliminated testing requirements so im thinking about replacing the whole system and deleting the cats. Can this be done with no effect to engine? (5.4)

 

You'll need some black tape for the check engine light in the dash. Your exhaust will probably smell more like a 70's truck if that's your thing. But the engine should run the same.

 

Isn't it a violation of Federal law to remove cats? Doesn't seem like something this forum would condone...

 

Park near a cat converter thief.

 

https://19january2017snapshot.epa.go...hsysrepair.pdf

 

Federal law doesn't seem to deter the cat thieves! And AFIK none of them have ever been prosecuted by the feds, although since they're selling the stolen cats to recyclers almost always send them out of state for processing I think that they could be.

And actually it's not. Go read the US Constitution. The feds and many others would have you beleive that it's a violation of Federal law but actually the feds don't have federal jurisdiction over what you do to your own vehicle (a non-commercial use). They wish that they did and they keep pushing it but the fact is that the feds only have even a pretense of jurisdiction via the Interstate Commerce Clause in the US Constitution, so they really only have authority to regulate businesses, not individuals, and only those that engage in interstate commerce. They stretch that to include any business that does anything interstate, even just receiving a package in the mail. So they can threaten any business that alters an emissions system or that sells parts such as "test tubes" to do the same but, so far, they can't legally do anything to individuals that are making their own alterations.

Note that I very specificly said feds. Your state, city and county may have their own regulations that you potentially could be prosecuted under.

I haven't seen anyone on them forum "condoning" the removal of cats for no reason although it's a frequently asked question, and usually asked for a very good reason! Most of the knowledgible people on this forum recommend against removing emissions control devices for the simple reason that it's very dificult to make a modern vehicle function well without them since the the vehicle systems are so interdependent.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

We all miss the days of smog. LA in the summertime, only able to see a block down the street. Man, those were the days...

 

1) probably more difficult to find a place that will actually do that and finding off-road midpipes online is a thing of the past mostly
2) will also be difficult to find someone to turn off those items in the tune to keep from throwing a CEL. Some have had luck with using non-foulers a spacer or soldering in a resistor (same thing as the old plug in mil-eliminators you cant get anymore)
3) itll be quite a bit louder, raspy and much more fuel/exhaust smell, rasp can be helped with resonators .

 

Visit Beijing, they have all of the smog that you could want!