im not to concerned with the price of the LTs/ORY/Tune... i have a feeling thats going to be the biggest gain i will see all at once without forced inductioice n... i just dont know what "upgrading" the heads would actually do... but like i said, i will keep reading on about it.

However, $1300 does seem high, thats half way to forced induction... and thats what i really want, a nice juicy supercharger

 

it's an addiction...plain and simple

 

yes, i cant stay off this site, all day long while im at work.... thank goodness for instant email updates...

i am trying to learn about headers and i have read some seriously mixed reviews about LT headers...

 

I have never herd a bad review on the LT headers. Maybe some said something bad about not getting the Ceramic-Coated or Stainless Steel headers. WELL worth the cash.

 

i have just read that people are losing low end power and for me, thats exactly what i dont want, i already hate the powerband of this truck being so high!

It sounds like the piping that most people are using is a little larger then needed for normally aspirated engines... (of course Im refering to the 1 3/4" primary and 3" collector) seems like maybe a slightly smaller primary might fix this problem but im not sure... dont know enough about it

 

I have converted to the 3" collector headers on my truck, and before I could not spin the tires off of the line, 35" tires, now I can get them to spin off of the line.

After the 3" collector it goes back down to 2.5" pipe to the 2.5" magnaflow high flow cats to the 3" flowmasters mufflers. You just might have to down size the pipe coming out of the collector.

 

as it stands, everything i have ever read about my tahoe... the cat flows pretty damned good so i planned on letting it be for no, i am putting in the 5x8x24 magnaflow in next week which tops off my first round of mods (intake and muffler) and i will start putting some money asside to do the headers and a tune. in the meantime i want to get as educated as possible on headers and some of the things i have read just scares me a bit because low end power is actually where i am trying to see the most gains! I do not ever plan to take my truck to the track, i just like driving and like having power at my foot.

i think i will end up going with the pacesetter coated LT's & ORY however that new LPP that was recently posted looks like a pretty nice product! cant wait to hear some reviews from people who have installed a set

 

You have to figure out what your end goal is. If you're like a large number of us you'll research something to death, get an idea of what you want to do, then change your mind about parts a few times.

It's best to know what parts benefit you the most and what parts benefit you the least.

An aftermarket MAF, Intake, Throttle Body or TB spacer would be a waste of money. You haven't mentioned those and that's good.

Best bang for the buck is a stall converter or nitrous.

If you did a stall, nitrous, and tune you would be well ahead monetarily and performance wise over long tubes, ORY, cam, + tune. Not to mention that your truck would look stock, sound fairly stock, but pack an extra 50 to 100hp at the flip of a switch.

What are your goals? A used STS turbo setup with tune would be fairly cost effective vs LT headers, Y, stall, cam, and tune.

Hope you have fun and are happy with every mod that you do. Remember that their are guys on here who have replaced trannies, rears, and engines for a reason!

 

thank you! i appriciate your insight on the matter; and yes, you wont hear me mention TB spacers, and MAF sensors and crap like that because those a gigantic waste of time and money....

my goal as it stands is to eek out as many ponies as i can without comprimising the drivability or longevity of my truck. Eventually i think i will have forced induction, but thats such a long way off that its to even a thought yet... right now i just want to stop feeling like i have the sorriest V8 ever made.... lol

 

I can totally see why people say they lose power with longtubes. Most of the primaries are too big for our trucks unless your making big power, same for the y-pipes. It sounds to me like you need shorties. I know everyone says stay away from them, but most of these people don't have them or have the cheaper ones. They really are better than stock manifolds.

I felt a really good gain from my coated JBA's and most of it was in the low rpm cruising range which is perfect for my needs. Next to my tune the shorties added the most power of my upgrades. Longtubes are good for about 10 hp over shorties, but thats in the higher rpm range. You just have to decide where you want your power and what your future upgrades will include.

I spent about 900 on my headers and dyno tune. Plus I didn't have to replace my y-pipe, which for me will be fine with all my planned upgrades. This is all just my opinion so take it for what its worth, hope it helps.