Need your advice on longtubes??
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 106
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From: Louisville, KY
Need your advice on longtubes?? Ok here goes, i am buying LTs very soon and i really need advice on which ones to go with. I really don't want to spend $1000 on a set of kooks headers. But i would like a really nice set of proven stainless steel LTs. What is the best bang for the buck, great performance and well made. I would say price range around $500 to $600. I'm sure every one is gonna have there own opinions on this, but i wanna hear them.
Thanks
Thanks
TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 801
Likes: 1
From: Anaheim Ca.
Ok here goes, i am buying LTs very soon and i really need advice on which ones to go with. I really don't want to spend $1000 on a set of kooks headers. But i would like a really nice set of proven stainless steel LTs. What is the best bang for the buck, great performance and well made. I would say price range around $500 to $600. I'm sure every one is gonna have there own opinions on this, but i wanna hear them.
Thanks
Thanks
I just put flea bay 1.3/4 headers on mine, they fit great. But the only reason i got them
was to buy some time, because i'm goin to use tsp 1.7/8 headers when i do a head's and
cam swap.
was to buy some time, because i'm goin to use tsp 1.7/8 headers when i do a head's and
cam swap.
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Michigan
If your going stainless tsp or take a chance with the much cheaper ebay. If you don't want stainless then pacesetter ceramic coated. My pacesetters still look brand new after 3 years. Pacesetters are best for keeping under the hood temps down comparably to stainless, but will eventually rust alittle.
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Tsp stainless. Can't beat the price for a high quality header. If you wanted to go cheap get bbk chrome w/ y pipe. Iv have them on my car almost a year and they still look good. No rust on the headers themselves and only a little on the welds of the y pipe and that's with me dd the car in the rain a bunch. I got them for $330 shipped from a sponsor and I think they're great.
Another vote here for BBk's on a budget they fit awesome and are super easy to install. If you want stainless look in to the tsp or ebay. But as others have said if you have an extra 200 or so go with kooks or arh's easier install and made here in the USA
11 Second Club
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: Middletown, DE
OP, I would go with Kooks headers, even though they are expensive, they will last you longer than the other ones. If you cannot afford them, go with Pacesetters or BBK headers. Make sure also, if the option is available, get them ceramic or jet hot coated. I've had my LT headers on since last September, and they are already starting to turn purple from the heat. Either way, LT's are a great mod and have a killer sound. Make sure you take out the cats and get an ORY (depending on which state you live in). 
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Michigan
With the cheaper TSP stainless 7/8s on the market. I don't really know why one would choose to go with Kooks or ARH stainless. Unless they just want the name under their hood. TSP has the same stainless design...just as easy to install with no complaints about fitment...but yet their considerably cheaper. Hey whatta know.. now you have 200+$ left in your pocket.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 106
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From: Louisville, KY
OP, I would go with Kooks headers, even though they are expensive, they will last you longer than the other ones. If you cannot afford them, go with Pacesetters or BBK headers. Make sure also, if the option is available, get them ceramic or jet hot coated. I've had my LT headers on since last September, and they are already starting to turn purple from the heat. Either way, LT's are a great mod and have a killer sound. Make sure you take out the cats and get an ORY (depending on which state you live in).
Thanks for all posts guys, keep them coming. This is really help me make my choice.
With the cheaper TSP stainless 7/8s on the market. I don't really know why one would choose to go with Kooks or ARH stainless. Unless they just want the name under their hood. TSP has the same stainless design...just as easy to install with no complaints about fitment...but yet their considerably cheaper. Hey whatta know.. now you have 200+$ left in your pocket.
They are also cheaper because they are made over seas. Now that may not matter to some people and thats fine. But a quality AMERICAN MADE product is hard to come by these days as things get shipped over seas. I'll gladly give that extra money up everytime for a quilty piece that keeps industry jobs here. I find it funny that most people who complain about jobs being shipped over seas are supporting it by buying the stuff made there....
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 106
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From: Louisville, KY
With the cheaper TSP stainless 7/8s on the market. I don't really know why one would choose to go with Kooks or ARH stainless. Unless they just want the name under their hood. TSP has the same stainless design...just as easy to install with no complaints about fitment...but yet their considerably cheaper. Hey whatta know.. now you have 200+$ left in your pocket.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Michigan
Well now that you bring this up, i think im choosing to go with a custom true duel setup. probably gonna try and run 3" back to an x pipe then 2.5 back to the mufflers. I really do not know which mufflers im going to run yet. I do think im going to try and go with a bullit style and run them side by side after the x pipe and before the axle. Any advice on this would be helpful. thank
Thanks for all posts guys, keep them coming. This is really help me make my choice.
Thanks for all posts guys, keep them coming. This is really help me make my choice.
Which ones did you get, and what y-pipe did you use?
This is the 3rd set of longtubes I install on my car and finally got it right (ARH 1 7/8"). I can only speak of Jet-Hot (basically Pacesetters), eBay stainless and these ARH longtubes. The first fit decent, but still hit the floorboard on heavy acceleration shifting and the coating flaked off after about a year. The second fit horribly, but were nice to look at. The third set were easy to install and have no issues rubbing or banging against anything even though they're a larger diameter than their predecessors. They look great to boot. It's your money, you decide how you want to spend it. Just know this; you risk being unhappy and possibly having to redo your exhaust in the future if you settle for something you don't want. Buy once, cry once. Good luck and let us know what you end up going with.
This is the 3rd set of longtubes I install on my car and finally got it right (ARH 1 7/8"). I can only speak of Jet-Hot (basically Pacesetters), eBay stainless and these ARH longtubes. The first fit decent, but still hit the floorboard on heavy acceleration shifting and the coating flaked off after about a year. The second fit horribly, but were nice to look at. The third set were easy to install and have no issues rubbing or banging against anything even though they're a larger diameter than their predecessors. They look great to boot. It's your money, you decide how you want to spend it. Just know this; you risk being unhappy and possibly having to redo your exhaust in the future if you settle for something you don't want. Buy once, cry once. Good luck and let us know what you end up going with.
Then I looked at tsp, stainless 1-7/8" but I still found people that had issues with them hitting the steering knuckle of the k-member, and then to install them they had to remove the motor mounts and jack the engine to one side.
Finally I looked heavily at kooks and arh. The Kooks have a very good install record and so do the ARH's. Its just a personal preferance at that point. My arhs went so smooth I thought I was doing something wrong. I cant say that about the tsp's, grots, and ebay headers i've seen and done. For me the 200 bucks extra it cost was worth it. It saved me time and labor of moving the engine which is worth something as well as got me a superior product made here in the USA