18+ 5.0 Are LTs worth it?
 

I've seen a lot of back and forth. Looking for input from those who have done it not those who have read a post the same as me lol. Are Long tubes worth it? I'm looking for mid to low 12s NA. I may spray it or put a blower on down the road. I have a 18 cc 4x4 with 3.55s. going ported 18 Mani,jlt,omega, and a true 3" dual set up.

You can hit that goal without spray and without longtubes. Worth is debatable. They cost a lot and don't quite offer the same increase that an intake manifold or a tune does. But, as power without them goes up, they benefit more and more. Another thing to take into consideration is noise. Header tubes you hear a lot more of the internal workings of the engine. People who have never had headers often think they have a flange leak or valvetrain issue but it's just the resonance that's no longer being canceled out by the cast iron manifolds.

Whichever route you decide to go, there's some very nice easy aftermarket options for dual 3". If you want cast manifolds, SPD offers a downpipe system that adapts to any Ecoboost Raptor or HO 3.5 exhaust system. Makes it plug and play. For headers there's StainlessWorks and their true dual system. Both are great options and you can get to your goal with both

Any ideas of the gains on the SPD's vs Lt? The spd are pretty pricey if I was to do LTs it would be the 2m only because I can weld and fab so if they need tweaked I can do it though it seems Lt install is basically a 2 day job lol

I’m not sure tbh. The 2m stuff is a Chinese knockoff of SW and from everything I’ve seen it’s a really good copy and fits great.

install of longtubes is....fun lol. Hard to say length of job but I had about 8hrs of actual wrenching in mine. Plus about 8hrs of thinking about how I wanted to do it, finding the right tool, and just all that crap that goes with any job. Plus LTH’s y pipe requires you to drop the trans crossmember and that just adds time and complexity

so many choices. I may just bite the bullet and do it. Can't have a 4 door mustang without the roar lol. Exhaust wise in going to do a varex universal 3" xpipe with their dual 3" in 3" out the out the side in front of the rear tire. Hopefully with the varex Itll tame it enough on this 4:30am cold starts 🤣

For me the long tubes were worth it as I just love the sound of them and after having them on my 2011, I just had to have them on my 18. Not sure on what difference it actually makes on the track or dyno as I haven't done any of that. Butt dyno feels better especially on the top end. I had it tuned before and after the headers with same tuner. Install is what it is. Headers on any late model vehicle is pita. I will say I had an easier time on my 2011 than I did on my 18 though. Had to take a bit more off to get the headers in than I had to do on my 2011. I used new oem gaskets and replaced what studs I could get out(there were some studs that requiered a/c compressor and engine mount to come off and didn't want to do that)with new oem studs and nuts. I used a ford performance kit from cj pony parts for the mustangs that had all the oem studs, nuts, and gaskets as it was about 50 dollars and was cheaper than ordering it all individually. Overall it took me about 8 hours in a small 2 car garage on jack stands.

I am using Stainless Works LT's and built my own 3" stainless h pipe and 3" duals dumped past the rear axle. With the Borla Xr1's it is stupid loud as I figured it would be. Gonna put some resonators in and likely build a 1/4 wave resonator to help with drone. Originally had the y pipe setup and was not happy with it.

Any videos of it? I started thing the true dual 3" with the x may be a little raspy and may got h? The difference in power is pretty negligible I would think

IMHO, if you are going to spend the cash on LT's, and are going through the pain process of install, you should also seriously consider having them Jet-hot coated first (or some other ceramic coating). One and done. Yes your engine will make more power with LT's across the board, and like others mentioned it helps more and more as HP goes up. The header coating drops underhood temps and insulates everything from the exhaust gas...including the trans and the passenger compartment.

I strongly second this. I did not coat mine and the headers added a dramaticly large heat load. Especially since the factory heat shields get tossed out in the process. Would definitely be more patient if I had the chance and get them coated.

I do not have any videos atm, but it has been on my to do list. The main reason I went with an h pipe over an x pipe is sound as I did not like the extra rasp that the stainless works y pipe gave off. Needless to say going to LT's is going to be more raspy plus these coyote's are just that way anyways, but that y pipe did not help it out any. The h pipe and dual 3" definately helped give a deeper tone, but since I am only using borla xr1's (w/high flow cats) There is still some rasp and just extremely loud especially those cold starts. I do plan to add resonators soon to help with the cold starts lol.