Exhaust / Headers Help (Suggestions)

[BamaDogg]

It may be a time to replace the exhaust / headers. The entire system is rusted really bad and seems to be leaking. I smell exhaust pretty strongly when I drive. The exhuast sounds great but may be a little on the loud side as well. The exhust comes off of stock headers to a muffler and then splits to straights.

What could I replace this with that sounds good / does not reduce performance / and is cost effective?

 

[bowtiefreak]

shorty heads are a direct replacement. I like JBA, not a fan of headman. Then I have a magnaflow Y pipe and hi-flow cats to a borla cat back

 

[BamaDogg]

shorty heads are a direct replacement. I like JBA, not a fan of headman. Then I have a magnaflow Y pipe and hi-flow cats to a borla cat back

Is replacing headers difficult?

The cats are Magnaflows?

 

[bowtiefreak]

they can be tough, mainly because the bolts get stuck and so on. But like I said, shorties bolt up in place of the stock manifolds. You'll get a ton of guys say do long tubes or nothing and they have a point in performance but then you are custom on everything.

Yes, my cats are magaflow. I like them a lot. I used to go through a cat every year or two until I put them on

 

[19Yukon97]

Im in the process right now of a new exhaust. Im donig Pacesetter longtube headers(380$) 3 inch piping just like stock is now with 2 new magnaflow cats(180$) A magnaflow y-pipe(12.50$) A flowmaster 50 series delta flow(60$) then a single 3.5 inch pipe going out the stock exit. I havent priced the pipe yet. Im in the process of finding a tip though. I like the look of a black chrome tip.

The reason i included prices is because i thought you might like to know how much everything cost roughly. I got all this off of amazon.com. Its a rough estimate. Cant member how much i payed exactly for everything.
But i know the headers are twice what i payed on some websites or close to it. The cats i have are very expensive. the muffler is a 120$ regular price. Just wanted to leave some information for ya dude so you knew what it cost to do it right the first time.

 

[BamaDogg]

So the stock piping is 3 inch?

Are you collecting parts and doing it yourself or just taking it to a shop?

---------- Post added at 10:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 AM ----------

Also what size Y-pipe? There are many options?

 

[bigfeet]

Hey 19yukon97, I have the same set-up, but my advice is stainless tailpipes painted semi-gloss black. two pipes exiting behind the rear wheels. That's how I did it looks awsome. Forget the black chrome!

 

[SunlitComet]

stock is 2.5" before muffler and 3" after.

 

[BamaDogg]

What exactly is the Y-pipe for? Are cats absolutely necessary?

 

[05Yukon23]

What exactly is the Y-pipe for? Are cats absolutely necessary?

Cats are necessary to be legal. They don't check in AR though so I used to run my old truck without them.