Headers

noelg85 · September 21, 2008

I need some info please!!! my friends been telling me that theres a difference in these two. one of them gives you power at higher rpms and the other gives you better low end torque, and thats where they lost me. but i for sure want headers that will give me slight power at take off, in other words a faster take off. please help guys, thanks.

merlin5577 · September 21, 2008

I need some info please!!! my friends been telling me that theres a difference in these two. one of them gives you power at higher rpms and the other gives you better low end torque, and thats where they lost me. but i for sure want headers that will give me slight power at take off, in other words a faster take off. please help guys, thanks.

Shorty headers give you more torque in the lower RPMs and less horsepower in the upper RPMs. Long tubes give you more horsepower in the higher RPMs and less torque in the lower RPMs.

I believe what you are looking for is shorty headers.

noelg85 · September 21, 2008

I need some info please!!! my friends been telling me that theres a difference in these two. one of them gives you power at higher rpms and the other gives you better low end torque, and thats where they lost me. but i for sure want headers that will give me slight power at take off, in other words a faster take off. please help guys, thanks.

Shorty headers give you more torque in the lower RPMs and less horsepower in the upper RPMs. Long tubes give you more horsepower in the higher RPMs and less torque in the lower RPMs.

thanks a bunch man. since ive been racing my truck with 22s lately, i noticed my truck has a really slow launch. hopefully the shorties will do the trick.

merlin5577 · September 21, 2008

Yea, those big @$$ wheels take a lot of torque to get moving.

2000DV4.8 · September 21, 2008

I need some info please!!! my friends been telling me that theres a difference in these two. one of them gives you power at higher rpms and the other gives you better low end torque, and thats where they lost me. but i for sure want headers that will give me slight power at take off, in other words a faster take off. please help guys, thanks.

Shorty headers give you more torque in the lower RPMs and less horsepower in the upper RPMs. Long tubes give you more horsepower in the higher RPMs and less torque in the lower RPMs.

I believe what you are looking for is shorty headers.

I thought it was the exact opposite...

Longtubes help down low, shorties help in the higher RPM.

EDIT:

Long-tube headers are traditionally the best choice for creating lots of torque and bottom-end power, and have very few shortcomings, save for trying to shoehorn them into most applications.

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/0501vet_long_...ders/index.html

Schmids5.3l · September 21, 2008

Shorties are expensive factory manifolds. Properly sized long tubes give you whatever you want, better low end or high end, I'm sure some get both For low end torque, and available long tube headers (few), Thorley tri Y headers are your best bet for TQ, OBX is option 2. Both are good quality, OBX is stainless steel. I'll have personal experience with OBX LT headers this winter (hopefully). For TQ and TQ only Thoryleys are your headers. In general all the LT headers for truck will make more HP and TQ. If you need more help taking off, gears, a proper cam, and a TQ converter will make big differences. ESP gears and a TQ converter. The 22's are hurting.

merlin5577 · September 21, 2008

I need some info please!!! my friends been telling me that theres a difference in these two. one of them gives you power at higher rpms and the other gives you better low end torque, and thats where they lost me. but i for sure want headers that will give me slight power at take off, in other words a faster take off. please help guys, thanks.

Shorty headers give you more torque in the lower RPMs and less horsepower in the upper RPMs. Long tubes give you more horsepower in the higher RPMs and less torque in the lower RPMs.

I believe what you are looking for is shorty headers.

I thought it was the exact opposite...

Longtubes help down low, shorties help in the higher RPM.

As pointed out, shorty headers are similar to stock manifolds (which dont flow well). In the higher RPMs the engine is pushing out more exhaust (obviously) so the shorty would restrict flow, hurting horsepower. The long tube would not restrict the flow at the higher RPM, helping horsepower. As schmids said, his best bet for torque is tri y's but those wont flow like a long tube.

black00chev · September 25, 2008

Get some Forged wheels and LT headers... Get rid of those heavy 22's.

Jennabear · September 25, 2008

Definitely get the long tubes. I would also look into getting a cam if you are looking for some better output across the powerband.

DanMan_S · September 27, 2008

Shorties are expensive factory manifolds. Properly sized long tubes give you whatever you want, better low end or high end, I'm sure some get both For low end torque, and available long tube headers (few), Thorley tri Y headers are your best bet for TQ, OBX is option 2. Both are good quality, OBX is stainless steel. I'll have personal experience with OBX LT headers this winter (hopefully). For TQ and TQ only Thoryleys are your headers. In general all the LT headers for truck will make more HP and TQ. If you need more help taking off, gears, a proper cam, and a TQ converter will make big differences. ESP gears and a TQ converter. The 22's are hurting.

Seconded, long tube headers are the only way to go. They are more expensive than shorties but you get what you paid for. For the LT's, longer or small diameter primaries will result in more torque and vice versa for shorter/larger primaries.

Headers will give a huge power/torque boost, especially when combined with supporting mods and a dyno tune that is done specifically with the headers in mind. On my C5Z06, dynatech long tubes and a dyno tune gave me an easy 40 hp at the tires.

Keep in mind that you may need to go with a quieter exhaust once the headers are on. These LS engines get VERY loud once they are breathing through some LT's. But they do sound freaking awesome. Your mileage will take a guaranteed hit because you'll always be on the gas to hear the sharp bark that the headers give off.

DanMan_S · September 27, 2008

Whoops, double post.

tjcbenz · September 30, 2008

As far as shorties go, I agree that LTs are better, but just how much better are they??? I wish there was a dyno comparison between manifolds, shorties and LTs. They way I look at it, is that I will pay double for something twice as good, but I won't pay double for something 10% better. Based on JBA's website and few reviews, their headers move the torque curve way left. Although ultimately LT's ARE better, I'm wondering if shorties are "good enough"...especially for a daily driver with nothing more than a few bolt-ons, the price difference and not having to hassle with the rest of the exhaust since they just bolt up. Any opinions on my rationale here??

http://www.jbaheaders.com/dyno.asp# First one is 5.3 with headers/exhaust