Has anyone put long tubes on their 5.4s? How hard is it? Is it worth it?

 

Worth and hard are relative terms, highly dependent on the individual and vehicle.

What's hard for me might be easy for you or vise-versa. Broken, rusty studs are common. Do you have the tools, time, knowledge and patience to remove them? Second vehicle to drive if you can't get it done in time?


Worth it? Look at the cost and analyze the potential gains. Could you achive similar gains by spending the money elsewhere? Do you actually need the extra HP they may produce? Is your truck lacking in some capacity?

Have you performed all other maintenance to insure your trucks operating longevity?

 

Well I work nights so I kinda got another vehicle. I maintain it really well. Has 133k miles. But I'd like to get some headers and maybe regear to 4.10 possibly not sure on that yet. Would just like to do some nice mods to increase performance

 

I didnt put long tubes on but i did shortys. Went with JBA's. For me it was worth it because my manifolds leaked like sieves and were rusted out not to mention the 5 broken studs before we broke more. They are a pretty big PITA but i did notice alot of low end out of em and it sounds awesome.

 

What did you do/use to get the broken ones out?

 

A combination of pb blaster, CNH rust penetrant, stud removal tool, vise grips, welding nuts on the broken studs, trying to drill them and using ez outs. They do not drill very well at all and only way to get to them in the truck is with a 90 degree air drill and stubby bits. We actually had to leave one in the block so i just ground it flush and it sealed up fine luckily.

 

yikes!

My exhaust manifolds are starting to leak at 161k miles. Sometimes I imagine myself installing new headers successfully, and then a post like this brings me back to reality.

 

Ha yea i did my headers at 130k its now just over 165K it was a weekend a side luckily i was young, dumb and full of ambition when i did them.lol

 

Well is it worth it though?

 

i made a lot of manifold change on the 97-03 f-150 and you really dont want to go there !!! best trick i can give is to remove the bolt holding the engine mount and lift it the more you can and heat evrything dont even try it before you heat for the broken stud i weld a washer then a nut and heat if it break try again or have a welder friend with you I fitted mac shortys i had at home on a V6 i bough and it was really easy compared to a v8