[Jordiggity]

Who hear has installed aftermarket headers? Im starting to explore this modificaion as it looks to be just to simple to install new ones. How did the install go? What brand did you purchase? Hows the performance/sound gain?

 

[effjae]

I got some from your mom. Oh...sorry...you meant headers.

 

[Jordiggity]

I hope she took care of you

 

[Toledo FJ]

Lol, you had that coming with a title like that! If you want to stay street legal, you have to go with shorty headers. JBA is far and away the most popular short tube headers for the FJ. They come in stainless with the option of a ceramic coating. I have the JBA headers and I like them very much. I saw that OBX is offering them for the FJ too. I saw a set on ebay. The shorty headers keep you legal because you have to cut the precat off the OE exhaust and weld it to the new headers. Other than this step, everything is bolt on. If you can weld, you will have no problems with the install.

The other option is to go with Long Tube headers. The only ones I know about for us is the Doug Thorley headers. Long tubes are WAY louder, and more powerful too. They are, however, illegal for street use anywhere in the US. If you don't care about the laws or the environment, and you don't mind all the noise, go with the long tubes. They are direct bolt on installation because they just eliminate those cats that you retain with the short tubes.

For a daily driver, I recommend the JBA setup. Mated with the cat back exhaust, it makes for a nice upgrade. Sounds great without being too loud or annoying, and the power boost is nice. I put in a custom tuned Unichip to maximize the performance gains from my intake/exhaust mods. I can't speak about other companies, but I give JBA a thumbs up for sure.

 

[effjae]

I hope she took care of you

Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

 

[ramsee1]

I just ordered a set of jba's and exhaust to match. I went with plain stainless and plan to wrap them for a fraction of the cost of ceramic.

 

[sc409]

Have any of you who have installed the JBA or Thorley's have an opinion on gas mileage, my experience in numerous vehicles have been performance on the top end, a loss of torque on the low end and no improvement in mpg.

 

[FJ FunJunkie]

Head, who said head? I'll take some of that. and I did, and it was good, and there was much rejoicing and then we f... oops, sorry old hasher chant.

 

[fj_tonka_toy09]

I have the DT long tubes and love them. I can feel the increase in power since all of my power-hogging mods. They sound great and I haven't noticed any loss in low-end power. Since all the weight I've added and M/Ts, it's hard to say whether or not they'd have an influence on mileage or not.
YouTube - Doug Thorleys 2
YouTube - Doug Thorleys 3

 

[RomaBoy]

I just ordered a set of jba's and exhaust to match. I went with plain stainless and plan to wrap them for a fraction of the cost of ceramic.

I'd stay away from that header wrap cloth stuff. After spending hours busting my [email protected] doing a tight wrap on my third set Stahl in-line 6 BMW headers my headers rotted out faster than ever before. To me it seems the wrap holds water accelerating the rust process. :cowfrown:

 

[Toledo FJ]

I don't know anything about the wrap, but you may save a ton depending on where you get them. I think you'll be fine even if you just leave them bare. The ceramic only costs $98 extra from URD.... not too bad.

I have the JBAs, no loss in low end power, no change in milage. I'm very happy with the product.

 

[ramsee1]

Hmmmmm. Thanks for the input guys, I will reconsider wrapping.
Since I posted this, I did a little more research and it seems wrap can affect stainless steel, but more so steel by keeping the heat in.. I have also seen heat paint which seals the wrap and protects against moisture. I couldn't find any real opinions about it however. I got the stainless steel for a great price, and the ceramic are just out of my budget for the time being.

 

[shivers]

I'd stay away from that header wrap cloth stuff. After spending hours busting my [email protected] doing a tight wrap on my third set Stahl in-line 6 BMW headers my headers rotted out faster than ever before. To me it seems the wrap holds water accelerating the rust process. :cowfrown:

I had the same experience when wrapping headers on one of my previous vehicles. The wrap on the lower portion of the headers did hold in water and that part of the header more of less crumbled apart. I won't ever do wrap again, I'll send the headers to JetHot or HPCoatings.

 

[RomaBoy]

I had the same experience when wrapping headers on one of my previous vehicles. The wrap on the lower portion of the headers did hold in water and that part of the header more of less crumbled apart. I won't ever do wrap again, I'll send the headers to JetHot or HPCoatings.

That's exactly what happened to my headers also. That header wrap is meant for racing only and not for street use.