Ready to dump the Grotyohann's
 

Primaries are flat spotted, y-pipe is nearly ground through, cat is cracked, and pinhole leaks in B1 collector. My biggest gripe was the ground clearance even with stock suspension.

If the price is right, I'm leaning towards 1 3/4" ARH, else QTP, else Kooks. I haven't found anyone who has owned more than one of these brands - which doesn't necessarily surprise me due to cost and their reported longevity.

I'll probably choose to have a custom y- and i-pipe fabbed because I don't want to play the y-pipe lottery. I like my current SLP D/D exhaust. The closest shop I found which reported does mandrel bends is 4 hours away - is it worth the drive? Anything special considerations I should consider regarding ID pipe size or other factors to minimize loss compared to an x-pipe design?

I'm keeping cats because I haven't cared for the odor nor sound from catless setups I've experienced. Are the most compact high flowing cat's still the RT7000 metallics?

Do a search. I believe the QTP's are the same design of the Grotts. I doubt you will see much performance difference, unless you are stepping up to a merge collector.

I have a set of Grotts hanging in the garage, and I thought they were a very good set of headers, other than the coating. They sure did perform well.

Did a search, but thanks anyway. Well yeah, except the new headers won't have the leaks in the center of the collector and be flat-spotted. And hopefully better ground clearance.

The QTP's and Kook's are based on the original Grot design.

So does that mean the QTP/Kook's collectors will have the same ground clearance issues as my Grot's? Will the engine 'sag' per se if the engine mounts need to be replaced?

I've got some flat spots on mine as well, this was all done when the car was lowered. So, I am guessing that your car is lowered. Any header that you have on that car is going to flat spot the headers, unless you go with a mid length header.

The Grott has one of the best clearance that you will find in a LT header. Way better than the Eldebrocks I have on the car now (I switched because I went with a bigger motor).

Weak motor mounts would make the motor sag, but not sure ifs enough to cause flat spots.

Who neeeds ground clearance when all it sees is the trailer and the track? :)

Never bought the trailer, and it gets better gas mileage than the 2500hd :-)

Have QTP and am lowered 2" on my Camaro...The Y pipe rubs if i'm not careful, but it's worth going slow over speedbumps.

The primaries are not rubbing? Is that the QTP y-pipe? Is it poor design, or just no place else to route the tubing?